• by Steve Ellwanger , May 15, 2023

Energy drinks brand Celsius has doubled its U.S. market share in one year, thanks to an investment by PepsiCo Inc. and inclusion in its distribution network.

Parent Celsius Holdings Inc. reported record revenue of $260 million in Q1 ended March 31—a 95% increase from the same period a year ago.

The majority of the sales growth came from North America—where Celsius grew revenue by 101%, to $249 million—while the company doubled its U.S. market share to 7.5% from 3.7%.

“We also just hit a new record on Amazon,” Celsius Holdings chairman, CEO and President John Fieldly said on an earnings call last week.

“Celsius is now the second largest energy drink brand with a 19.1% share of the energy category as of the last four-week period ending April 22, 2023,” Fieldly added, citing data from Stackline.

Last Oct. 1, Celsius products entered the PepsiCo distribution network in an agreement announced two months prior, under which PepsiCo purchased $550 million in Celsius stock for just under 10% ownership in the company.

By March 1, the PepsiCo collaboration had added 1,600 colleges and universities as Celsius distribution points.

In the first quarter, club-store sales increased by 77% to just over $47 million.

“We have been extremely happy with our PepsiCo partnership and see a long runway of growth ahead of us across a variety of channels, including expanding in retail, convenience and foodservice,” said Fieldly.

In retail channels tracked by NielsenIQ, Celsius had a dollar sales increase of 131.4% compared to 10% for #1 brand Monster and 10.3% for #2 Red Bull in the four-week period ended April 22,

International sales grew 15% in Q1.

“We look forward to early 2024 for opportunities to roll out internationally—with 2023 being the year of planning around logistics, production, distribution and marketing,” said Fieldly.