Description
Monster Beverage is an American beverage company that manufactures energy drinks including Monster Energy, Relentless and Burn. The company was originally founded as Hansen's in 1935 in Southern California, originally selling juice products. The company renamed itself as Monster Beverage in 2012, and then sold their Hansen's juices and sodas and their other non-energy drink brands to The Coca-Cola Company in 2015.
As of 2020, Monster held nearly 39% of the $5.7 billion US energy drink market, the second highest share after Red Bull.
History
Hansen's was founded in 1935. In the 1930s, Hubert Hansen and his three sons began selling juice to film studios and retailers in Southern California under the Hansen's name. In the 1970s, Tim Hansen (the grandson of Hubert) developed and marketed a variety of sodas and juices, also under the Hansen's label.[6]
The company became Hansen's Juices, and later The Fresh Juice Company of California. The plant that was opened in Los Angeles in 1946 was used until operations were moved to a new plant in Azusa, California in 1993. The company filed for bankruptcy in 1988, and was acquired by the California CoPackers Corporation and renamed Hansen Natural Company. In 1998, the company moved from Anaheim, California to Corona, California. On January 5, 2012, after energy drinks had grown to the largest source of revenue, shareholders agreed to change the name of the company from Hansen's Natural to Monster Beverage Corporation, under the new ticker MNST. Shareholders also approved an increase in the number of authorized shares of common stock to 240,000,000 shares from 120,000,000 shares.
In April 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruled products containing high-fructose corn syrup could not be labeled "natural". Shortly after, Hansen's Natural Corporation announced they had begun using cane sugar instead.
In September 2009, Hansen brand Monster Energy sent a cease and desist letter to Rock Art Brewery, demanding the microbrewery stop selling its new Vermonster beer, drop its pursuit of a federal trademark for the name, and pay Hansen's lawyer fees. This resulted in a boycott of all Hansen products by a few Vermont retailers.
In June 2015, The Coca-Cola Company took ownership of Hansen’s juice products and sodas, Hubert’s Lemonade, Blue Sky sodas, Peace Tea and other non-energy drink brands, in exchange for their energy drink brands.
The Coca-Cola Company bought a 16.7% stake for $2.15 billion in Monster Beverage Corp in 2015. This stake has since grown to 19.3% due to share buybacks conducted by Monster Beverage Corp.
In January 2022, the company acquired CANarchy Craft Brewery Collective for US$330 million. In February 2022, it was reported Monster and Constellation Brands were considering a merger which would have a combined market capitalization above $90 billion.
Sponsorship
NASCAR announced on December 1, 2016 a multi-year deal that will make Monster Energy only the third entitlement sponsor in its premier series history. However, this deal ended after the 2019 race season, and the series will be known as simply the "NASCAR Cup Series" from 2020 onward. The company is expected to continue sponsoring individual drivers, including Kurt Busch, Ty Gibbs, Hailie Deegan, and Riley Herbst into the future. Monster remains a secondary sponsor.
Professional Bull Riders Unleash the Beast Series carries a Monster Energy sponsorship.
World of Outlaws features the NOS brand as its title sponsor.
