Energy Drinks Are Growing While the Alcohol Segment Is Shrinking: A Gap Is Opening in the Beverage Portfolio

In the second quarter results of Monster Beverage for 2026, the two beverage groups diverged significantly. The net sales of the company's main energy drink segment increased by 21.6% compared to the same period last year, reaching approximately $2.36 billion, while the sales of the Alcohol Brands segment, which includes craft beer, flavored malt beverages, and hard seltzer products, decreased by 15.2% to $32.2 million.

A single company's balance sheet is not sufficient to explain the entire global beverage market. However, the contrasting movements of these two segments within the same company raise a broader question for bars, restaurants, and beverage suppliers: Are the values consumers expect from beverages and the moments of consumption changing?

The striking aspect of the Monster example is not just the growth of energy drinks. The decline in the company's alcohol segment was also observed in the first quarter of 2026. In the first quarter, the Monster Energy Drinks segment grew by 27.6% year-on-year, while Alcohol Brands sales fell by 5.9%. Thus, the divergence in the second quarter indicates that the trend observed since the beginning of the year is continuing.

The Growth of Energy Drinks Is Not Just a Brand Story

Monster CEO Hilton Schlosberg stated in the company's second-quarter announcement that the energy drink category continues to attract new consumers, expand usage occasions, and increase household penetration. While this assessment is the management's own interpretation, a strong increase in Monster's international sales is also evident. Sales to customers outside the U.S. rose by 34.6% in the second quarter, reaching $1.16 billion, accounting for approximately 46% of the company's sales.

External data regarding the category also indicate that the space for functional and energy-focused beverages is expanding. NielsenIQ expects functional beverage sales in the U.S. off-premise channel to grow at nearly twice the rate of the overall market in the coming year. The institution highlights the growth potential of products positioned around energy, performance, digestion, or various functional benefits.

For HORECA, the opportunity here is not just to stock more energy drinks on the shelf. It is becoming increasingly important to understand at what times, in what service formats, and in response to what customer needs the products are being offered.

The post-breakfast period, afternoon, sports and event settings, pre-nightlife, or options created for guests who do not consume alcoholic beverages can allow the same product group to open up to different consumption moments.

The Issue with Alcoholic Beverages Is Not Just One Company's Performance

Monster's Alcohol Brands segment holds a limited share within the company's overall size. Therefore, interpreting the 15.2% decline as "the alcohol market shrank by 15%" would be misleading.

However, there are other data indicating that the alcoholic beverage sector is facing demand pressure on a broader scale.

According to Reuters, which reports on IWSR's long-term forecast covering 160 markets, global alcoholic beverage consumption volume is expected to decline until after 2031. The research predicts that despite an increase in the population of legal drinking age, total consumption in 2035 could be about 1% below 2025 levels. High living costs, health-focused behaviors, and changing consumer preferences are cited as factors affecting demand in the same assessment.

The trend here is not as simple as "people are no longer consuming alcohol." More selective consumption, going out less frequently, and reducing the number of days alcohol is consumed are behaviors that are changing menu composition.

According to NielsenIQ data, 54% of consumers in Britain say they limit their alcohol consumption in some way. NIQ points out that this does not necessarily mean completely giving up alcohol; it indicates hybrid behaviors such as shifting consumption to special occasions, creating more alcohol-free days, or ordering fewer alcoholic beverages when dining out.

The Dichotomy of "Alcoholic or Non-Alcoholic" Is Weakening in HORECA Menus

NielsenIQ's research on the European on-premise market also shows that the moderation trend supports demand for non-alcoholic and low-alcohol options. The research indicates that 24% of consumers prefer soft drinks, while 30% prefer no/low-alcohol options. The same study shows that demand for traditional beer and cider categories continues.

Therefore, the right approach for businesses may not be to replace one category with another.

What is more meaningful is to measure which beverages guests choose at different days and times, which product group sees higher per capita spending, and which products show low rotation despite being on the menu.

A bar or restaurant can view energy drinks, premium sodas, low-alcohol beverages, non-alcoholic cocktails, and traditional beer/wine categories as different parts of the same customer journey.

This also requires managing purchasing decisions based not solely on case price but on indicators such as sales velocity, gross profit, stock turnover, and consumption timing.

What Indicators Should Businesses Monitor?

For businesses reassessing their beverage portfolios, the fundamental question should not be "which category is growing?" but "which beverage is creating value at which moment in our business?"

In menu management, the following indicators can be particularly monitored:

• Sales volume and contribution margin by product and category

• Beverage preferences by time of day

• The impact of alcoholic and non-alcoholic orders on total spending per table

• Products waiting in stock due to low rotation

• Reorder rate of new products

• Distribution of beverage orders made with and without food

• Share of sales occurring through bartender or service team recommendations

The role of the staff should not be overlooked. In NielsenIQ's European research, 22% of consumers state that they rely on bartender recommendations when deciding what to drink. This rate indicates that product knowledge and a service team capable of making the right recommendations can directly create commercial value.

How Should It Be Interpreted in the Turkish Market?

Monster's financial results and the NIQ/IWSR data used do not show that energy drink or alcohol sales in the Turkish market are changing at the same rates. Therefore, it would not be accurate to directly adapt these percentages to Turkey.

Instead, the signal to be monitored for restaurant, hotel, and bar businesses in Turkey is the division of beverage consumption into more usage occasions and more categories.

Businesses can separately monitor the performance of non-alcoholic options, energy drinks, premium soft drinks, mocktails, and traditional alcoholic categories from their own POS and stock data. Such an approach reduces the risk of changing the menu without validating global trends with local customer behavior.

Stafflink's Perspective

The significant difference in Monster's results should not be interpreted by HORECA businesses as "reduce alcoholic products and increase energy drinks." The more important aspect of the data is that the traditional boundaries between beverage categories are becoming increasingly less explanatory from a business perspective.

A guest may choose a functional drink at lunch, a non-alcoholic aperitif in the early evening, and a premium alcoholic product on another visit. All of these behaviors can be observed in the same customer.

In our view, the opportunity for businesses lies in measuring consumption moments in more detail and diversifying the beverage menu according to this data rather than overstocking a single rising category.

Here, the product knowledge of the service team is also critical. Adding new categories to the menu does not generate sales on its own if the staff cannot explain them and recommend them to the right customers. In the upcoming period, beverage portfolio management may become an operational area that needs to be addressed in conjunction with purchasing, menu engineering, and employee training.