Celsius makes move to take down Coke, Pepsi

The drink giant is seizing an opportunity.

Mar 1, 2025 - 16:17

Celsius makes move to take down Coke, Pepsi

It's been a pretty poor time to be a retailer.

The past few years have been fraught with economic uncertainty, high interest rates, COVID-19 lockdowns, and customer sensitivity about high prices.

That means many restaurants and retailers have had to get creative when it comes to attracting the foot traffic or interest they had gotten accustomed to prior to the 2020s.

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Unfortunately, some unlucky restaurants and retailers were not able to do so in time.

Red Lobster, The Body Shop, Party City, and many other large giants found the past few years too difficult to survive and thus filed for bankruptcy.

In fact, some a data report published by Coresight predicts that 2025 could be even worse for store closures.

“Retailers that were unable to adapt supply chains and implement technology to cut costs were significantly impacted, and we continue to see a trend of consumers opting for the path of least resistance. Not only do they want the best prices, but they also have no patience for stores that are constantly disorganized, out of stock and that deliver poor customer service," Coresight CEO Deborah Weinswig said.

The company predicts up to 15,000 store closures in 2025, a 334% increase from the year prior.

But business is good for other areas

It's a trying time to be a legacy retailer or restaurant.

But if you're in the beverage space, things have never looked rosier.

That's because consumers are increasingly interested in expanding their beverage horizons.

As soda continues to wane in popularity, customers are still looking to satiate their sweet or carbonated drink fix.

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The trend has made room for a lot of newcomers, including functional beverage upstarts like Olipop, which offers fiber and low sugar in its soda-like beverages, and Poppi, which includes apple cider vinegar in its drinks to promote gut health.

Even giants like Coca Cola are getting in on the trend, launching their own functional or better-for-you drinks.

Celsius makes a bold new play

And the latest move in the beverage space is by Celsius, the energy drink company which makes the highly popular alternative energy drink.

Celsius announced this week that it will acquire Alani Nu, a rival energy drink brand, in a deal worth $1.8 billion.

Alani Nu is a relatively new addition to the drink space. It was founded in 2018 and is mainly marketed to women who want a caffeinated beverage without the sugar.

The deal is expected to close by the end of Q2 and will give Celsius access a 16% piece of the energy drink market share, according to recent estimates.

"Celsius is at a defining moment in the better-for-you, functional lifestyle products movement, and we are thrilled to welcome Alani Nu to the Celsius family," John Fieldly, Chairman and CEO of Celsius said.

Fieldly recently said in an interview at Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference that Celsius was at a "disadvantage," because it's a single brand up against some of the largest drink competitors with massive market share.

The deal, though, "allows us to compete at that higher level to really continue to drive our growth and share.”