AB InBev launches energy drink 'Budweiser Beats' in India

AB InBev, which makes the world's largest selling beer - Budweiser, has a new target audience: India's teetotallers. After testing the market with its non-alcoholic beer in 2019, the Belgian beer maker has now made its foray into the energy drinks market globally and it picked India to launch its ninety-rupee energy drink can called 'Budweiser Beats'. The company is angling for a 10 percent share of this USD 250 million market.

Budweiser Beats will compete directly with RedBull, which enjoys a near monopoly in the energy drink segment with nearly 80-85 percent market share. For AB InBev, this launch is part of a larger India strategy that increases its focus on premium beverages, which already account for nearly half its sales in the country. As things stand, AB InBev enjoys only a 20 percent share of the Indian beer market, but it has a 65 percent share of the premium beer segment beating even overall market leader United Breweries.

But the launch of Budweiser Beats is not crucial just for its India strategy, it's crucial for AB InBev's global strategy in which by 2025, the company expects at least 20 percent of its overall revenues to come from a mix of non-alcoholic beverages and beverages with lower alcohol content.