Jolt Cola, the pioneering energy drink from the 1980s, will return to shelves in 2025 — with more than twice its original caffeine.
The soda — which touted having “all the sugar and twice the caffeine” of Coca-Cola and Pepsi — is being relaunched by sports supplement brand Redcon1Redcon1 to take on rivals like Monster, Red Bull and Celsius.
“There’s a neat way to bring something back where it’ll pay homage to what once was, yet we can do it in a very modern way,” Ryan Monahan, chief marketing officer at Redcon1, told CNN.
Jolt did not immediately respond to noti.group’s request for comment.
In 1985, Jolt’s 72 milligrams of caffeine was enough to cause many nervous parents to ban their children from drinking the soda.
Now, the drink will have a whopping 200 milligrams of caffeine per 16-ounce can, according to the Jolt Cola website.
The cans will cost around $2.50 or $3, according to a CNN report.
Redcon1 does not want to market the Jolt energy drinks to anyone under 21, Monahan told CNN.
The nostalgic drinks are meant to grab older consumers and young adults, he added.
“It’s that thing of, ‘I remember I wasn’t allowed to have it and it’s come back,’ or ‘I remember enjoying it and it went away,’” Monahan told CNN.
The relaunch, first announced in October, comes after Jolt filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009. It made a brief return to Dollar General shelves in 2017 before stopping sales just two years later.
But the energy drink market — long dominated by Red Bull — has boomed in recent years and is growing faster than the traditional soda industry.
The global energy drink market was expected to hit $48.1 billion in 2024 and grow to $80.8 billion by 2033, according to market research group Imarc.
The Coca-Cola Company owns a 16.7% stake in Monster Beverage Corp., while Pepsi owns 8.5% of Celsius Holdings and acquired Rockstar Energy for $3.8 billion in 2020.
In October, Keurig Dr Pepper said it would spend more than $1 billion to buy energy drink maker Ghost.
Jolt will branch out from its cola origins with limited-edition flavors, Monahan told CNN. The brand may also launch pre-workout drinks and energy shots down the line, Monahan added.
The cola will likely have an easier time this third go-around, without the 1980s-era outcry that demonized the drink over health concerns.
Jolt’s 200 milligram caffeine-dose is below 300 milligrams in a 16-ounce can of Celsius HEAT – which nears the 400 milligram daily limit that the FDA deems excessive for adults.
Alongside the caffeine overload, energy drinks are often high in sugar – containing about 40 grams per can on average, according to Harvard University’s School of Public Health. That’s near the daily sugar intake recommendation for a person with a 2,000-calorie diet, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Jolt will offer a sugar-free drink with vitamins B6, B12 and B5, according to its website.
Caffeine is not recommended for children, per the American Academy of Pediatrics – though the drinks have become more popular among kids looking for an energy boost.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
