BLU+Vodka in a Can - Is This Even Legal?

On my way to work this morning, I noticed a billboard advertising a new energy drink. Energy drinks taste weird to me, and sometimes I feel chest pains drinking them. But this one had VODKA featured on its lable. BLU (competitor to Red Bull) is now selling cans of energy drinks with vodka already included. Very clever indeed.



Vodka and Red Bull is a really popular drink in Israel, and the obvious advantage of this product is that you no longer need to buy a whole bottle of vodka to spike a can of Red bull. The alcohol level is 4.9%, and Vodka on its own is supposed to have 37.5% alcohol. That means that given the total volume of 335 mL, there is a total of 16.416 mL of alcohol, or 43 mL of vodka - or 1 part energy drink to 7 parts vodka. Is that a good ratio? I have no idea.

The Israeli energy drink market has gotten really crowded. Red bull was the first here in 1999, establishing its own Israeli distributor in 2007, and then nosediving to the bottom of the market. In 2004, Polish XL entered the market and bit a giant chunk out of Red bull's market share. With an explosive advertising budget, startegic partnerships with nightclubs, and an established distribution chain to convenience stores across the country, XL positioned itself as Israel's number one energy drink, holding 70% of the market share in 2007. SFS (Shamshoun Fouzi & Sons, Elit's chocolate distributor to the Palestinian territories founded in the 70s) was so successful with XL that Israel now comprises 75% of XL's entire global sales. With a bitter legal battle, XL revoked the distribution license of SFS in September 2008 and gave it to Sides, which lost the license one year later to Tempo. SFS went on to produce its own successful energy drink, which it called BLU, and which now commands 25% of the market. XL has fallen to 56% market share, and Red bull has entirely lost its lead with a dismal market share of 8%.

Still more companies have tried to capitalize off the drink's popularity. Jaffora, distributor of such brands as RC and Spring, as well as two competing bottled water companies, brought Red Rain from Canada in May 2009. Tempo itself, before investing in XL, tried to produce its own energy drink called Xi, which was a complete flop.

Combining Vodka with an energy drink is risky. One known consequence is that drinkers experience inebriation without being aware that they are drunk. A University of Florida study found that consumers of this combo were more likely to drive home drunk because of this effect. Red Bull itself makes your blood stickier, with the consumption of a single can giving a person a heart profile similar to a heart disease sufferer. Add alcohol, and your body is being put through a lot. I hope BLU Energy Vodka is certified as safe by the Ministry of Health.

In any event this new product is a clever, if irresponsible, move by SFS to rise above the increasing competition in the Israeli energy drink market. I'll bet that the rest will quickly follow suit, producing Vodka+Energy Drinks of their own.