Dubai: Austrian-based Red Bull group sold 4.2 billion cans of its energy drink last year, 7.6 per cent more than in 2009, making it the world's biggest energy drink maker by far.
It was the company's best year ever since it was founded in 1987, Red Bull said in a statement on Friday obtained by Gulf News.
Red Bull was founded by former Austrian salesman and entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz in partnership with Thai businessman Chaleo Yoovidhya.
Revenues climbed 15.8 per cent to €3.78 billion (Dh18.9 billion), the statement said.
Sales in markets like Turkey, Japan, Brazil, Germany and US have contributed the most to the higher sales. Turkey in 2010 was the most successful country for Red Bull with a sales surge of 86 per cent, followed by Japan with 80 per cent compared to 2009.
In the meantime, the company said it has implemented "consistent cost management" in the years when the global financial crisis also impacted the energy drink sector. Last year's results were even better than pre-crisis levels, a company spokesperson said, also due to the fact that Red Bull continued to pursue brand investments.
Formula One
Red Bull is aggressively marketing its energy drinks through high-level sport and event sponsorships and the media.
The company owns two Formula One teams (Red Bull Racing, Scuderia Toro Rosso), a Nascar racing team as well as several football teams in Brazil, the US and Germany.
The Formula One victory in Abu Dhabi by Sebastian Vettel for Red Bull Racing last November alone pushed Red Bull's brand value, which is currently estimated at €13 billion, "by several per cent", according to Martin Platzer, head of sponsoring consultant MPM in Vienna.
The group also features Austrian TV station ServusTV, lifestyle and fashion magazines and a construction company called Bull Bau.
It has also entered the mobile phone market in several countries as a virtual operator.
The company currently has 7,758 employees in 161 countries.
In the future, expansion will focus on core markets such as Western Europe and the US as well as on promising future markets like Brazil, Japan, India and China.
The company, which is not listed, traditionally finances its investments from its cash-flow.
Strongest brand
Red Bull, which normally is very reluctant to reveal sales figures and rarely speaks to the press, is the strongest Austrian brand in the world ahead of jewellery maker Swarovski.
In the Middle East, Red Bull is especially known for its engagement in motor sport sponsoring and other sport events as well as spectacular marketing stunts such as a Red Bull Formula One car racing down Shaikh Zayed Road last year to promote the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Success story
The Red Bull brand idea goes back to Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz, a former salesman for Blendax toothpaste. On a trip to Thailand in 1982 he discovered the energy drink Krating Daeng, which he tried in order to cure his jet lag. He then wanted to adapt the drink for the European market, which took him until 1987.
He joined forces with Thai businessman Chaleo Yoovidhya and founded the Red Bull company, which today is 49 per cent owned by Chaleo Yoovidhya, 2 per cent by his son Chalerm, and the other 49 per cent by Mateschitz.
The new drink was not immediately accepted on the market after its launch in 1987, and even bottlers were hard to find for Mateschitz, who established the Red Bull headquarters in Salzburg, Austria. It took several years and a lot of marketing efforts to advertise the drink and much effort to get approvals by health authorities.
Besides, numerous copycat products were trying the same. However, Red Bull started its expansion in 1989 within Europe, entered the US market in 1997 and came to the Middle East in 2000. Today, Red Bull is present in more than 100 countries. Its global market share among energy drinks is about 70 per cent.
Chaleo Yoovidhya ranks 208th on the Forbes list of the world's billionaires which means he is the richest Thai. Mateschitz, whose estimated fortune is €4 billion, is among the richest Austrians.
— A.M.
