Krystal is expecting to capture buzz with the launch of its new branded energy drink, Krystal Blitz.
The drink is an original blend of Sprite, lemon berry flavoring and energy enhancements, including taurine, guarana, green tea extract and caffeine. The Blitz is made to order and served either as a fountain drink or as a frozen beverage.
Brad Wahl, vice president of marketing for The Krystal Co., said the company is excited about the beverage and anticipates a strong consumer response.
"The Krystal Blitz is not only the (quick-service) industry's first energy drink, it is also a new kind of energy drink that is both great tasting and uplifting," he said.
Unlike ready-to-drink canned energy drinks, which can be barely palatable, Wahl said Krystal's has a light, fruity flavor and avoids the medicinal aftertaste common to other similar beverages.
Krystal is so confident in the drink's potential that it moved forward with the launch despite a traditional in-store market test.
The research process
Just because the company bypassed that testing doesn't mean Krystal has taken the research process lightly. As with any product launch, the company looked at industry trends and saw that energy drinks were one of the few growing beverage categories.
Krystal first looked at adding a canned drink like Coca-Cola's Full Throttle. But after weighing the cost to store the product, as well as the aspect of competing with convenience stores, the company rejected the idea.
"We thought, 'Why would you come to Krystal to get a Full Throttle or a Red Bull when you can get it at the gas station,'" Wahl said.
It wasn't until Monin Gourmet Flavorings, Krystal's flavored syrup provider and beverage partner, suggested the chain develop its own drink that Krystal seriously considered launching such a product.
Monin took the product development as a challenge, having never created an energy syrup before.
"The most difficult part was to source the natural energy ingredients," said Johanna Velez, director of quality assurance and product development for Monin. "Most energy drinks use synthetic caffeine while the Krystal Blitz product contains natural caffeine."
Monin also conducted consumer research on taste profile possibilities and found that more consumers preferred the lighter fruit flavor over "a contrived, unnatural taste," a Monin marketing spokesperson said.
The branded energy drink allows Krystal to eliminate the storage issue of offering a canned product and saves on waste. One bottle of the Monin Energy Syrup can make up to 32 Krystal Blitz drinks.
Velez said her team is proud of the innovation and now open to more opportunities for energy products. "It opened the door to many new ideas that a few years back were mostly limited to Ready to Drinks (RTDs)."
Positive taste test results
For Krystal, initial consumer research on the Blitz showed the product's possibilities. Wahl said consumers liked the natural ingredients, which include pure cane sugar, as well as the taste. They also liked the carbonation since most energy drinks don't have any.
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Other pluses were the ability to get the drink from a drive-thru vs. going into a C-store as well as a fountain drink vs. a canned product.
Initial tests also included a frozen Blitz option based on the popularity of Krystal's frozen drink line, the Krystal Freeze. Consumer testers liked having both frozen options.
Wahl said the Blitz's options allow the purchase to fit the occasion. "Depending upon the reason that they wanted an energy drink really defined which format they wanted it in."
Consumers wanting a mid-afternoon pick me up or a cool drink in summer preferred it frozen. Those wanting simply a boost of energy, especially if they wanted to consume it quickly, preferred the over-ice version, Wahl said.
Of all the positive responses, though, Wahl said consumers' preference for getting the product through the drive-thru helped motivate the company to move forward with the launch.
"That was a very big win for us," he said. "That was another piece of information that came out of our research that gave us an extreme amount of confidence that this could be a very big product for us. We're really excited about this product."
