Red Bull is launching a Juneberry variety, the latest of its limited Editions flavours.

The supplier says the flavour is reminiscent of dark cherries and mild blueberries. It performed well in consumer taste tests, seeing the highest purchase intent of any previous Summer Edition at 75%.

Its launch comes as flavours are crucial to the growth of the sports and energy drinks category, with 61% of functional energy consumed for flavour, up from 40% in 2020. Red Bull’s previous Editions launch, Apricot, was the supplier’s most successful new launch, contributing to 30% of Editions sales and 54% of Editions growth, with sales of 4.8m packs.

Summer Edition Juneberry is available in 250ml plain and £1.45 price-marked packs, 355ml Sugarfree and 250ml Sugarfree four-pack formats.

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A Red Bull spokesperson said: “Red Bull is the signpost to the category, therefore instrumental to the overall strong performance of flavoured sports and energy drinks, outperforming total flavoured sports and energy by four times.

“We also know shoppers love to explore new flavours, so we are constantly innovating to add excitement to the category, which has not only helped us to drive sales, but also introducing new shoppers to the sector. This has led to Red Bull Editions quadrupling in value within the last two years, growing +81% shoppers incrementally year on year and appealing to more females, with 62% of Editions spend by female buyers.

“Flavours are an essential must-stock during the summer. Our research highlights that 24% of people who don’t currently buy energy drinks say they would try a flavour, with converted energy shoppers also keen to experiment: 41% of them saying they would try a flavour. With such strong purchase intent, we are positive that the new Red Bull Summer Edition Juneberry will help drive further trial, introducing even more shoppers to the category to help boost summer sales.”

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