The energy drinks market in India is expected to double in size over the next couple of years as a host national and international players venture into the segment. The market for such drinks is expected to double in size to Rs 1,000 crore over the next two years from Rs 500 crore presently.

Energy drinks in India till a year back were dominated by players such as Rhino’s, Bullet, Cloud 9 and Red Bull among others has suddenly spruced. Sales, however, started picking up post the entry of established players such as Pepsi and Amway.

Pepsi has been marketing its energy drink SoBe since November last year while Amway XL has been around for nearly seven months now. Red Bull and Power Horse, who have been around for a couple of years now, perhaps were the only existing players to be marketing such products aggressively.

Amway believes that the fun drinks such as colas segment has declined by five per cent in the last two years. “With the positive changes in the perception of health and fitness in India, we foresee a huge potential for supplementary drinks like XL,” William Pinckney, managing director & chief executive officer, Amway India told Financial Chronicle.

Amway sells health drinks under the Amway XL label which comes in two flavours — Citrus Blast and Tropical Blast, priced at Rs 450 for a pack of six.

“The energy drink segment is the fastest growing segment in the ready to drink category. The reason being that India has a youth centric population and we are urbanising very fast,” a Red Bull spokesperson said.

Players are taking to unique marketing strategies to expand the market for energy drinks in India. Red Bull, for instance, started free sampling at schools and colleges before launching the product. Even after the launch, the free sampling continues to enhance brand recall. “We do free sampling at colleges and we are shortly coming up with a major campaign by April 26,” said, Rajesh Singh, marketing head, Cloud 9.

PepsiCo’s global chief Indra Nooyi during her visit to India during September had said that the company expects nearly 50 per cent of its sales to come from health drinks such as SoBe. “Every year we bring in five to 10 new products in the market and we will continue to do so. We expect products based on the health platform to contribute 50 per cent of our revenue,” she had said.