Battle of the energy drinks

I popped into my local Sainsbury’s this morning for the groceries and I came across a staggering price differential between Red Bull - 250ml individual cans on sale for 88p or a pack of 4 for £3.29 - and Sainsbury’s own-brand caffeinated drink Blue Bolt which has been on sale for some time at just 26 pence for a 250ml can - less than one third of the price of a can of Red Bull.

Sainsbury’s of course is in competition with Tesco whose own brand is called Kick. I checked on Tesco online this lunchtime and Kick is available for 24p for the same size. Are Tesco and Sainsbury’s loss-leading on these products? How else might you explain the huge price difference between the own-brand products and their mainstream rival? After a brief taste test, Bolt reminds me more of Iron Brew but if it does the job of stimulating me on long drives or during late night marking, why pay such a crazy price premium?

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Unit 2 Macro: Cyclical and Structural Economic Issues Facing the UK [23 May 2012]
Unit 3 Micro: Game Theory and Business Economics [21 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: The Importance of Productivity [20 May 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: Revision Presentation on Elasticity of Supply [16 May 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: Revision Presentation on the Price Mechanism [16 May 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: Price Elasticity of Supply [13 May 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: Income Elasticity of Demand [13 May 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: Price Elasticity of Demand [13 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Revision Notes on Supply-side Policies [10 May 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: Revision Blogs on Markets and Intervention [10 May 2012]
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Unit 2 Macro: Monetary Policy and Inflation Glossary [5 May 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: Using the Cost-Benefit Principle [30 Apr 2012]
Unit 3 Micro: Quiz on Market Structures [11 Apr 2012]
Unit 3 Micro: Evaluation Question on Supermarkets [11 Apr 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: Market Failure in Private Health Care [8 Apr 2012]
Unit 3 Micro: Revision on Contestable Markets [8 Apr 2012]
Unit 3 Micro: Revision on Monopoly Price and Output [6 Apr 2012]
Unit 3 Micro: Monopoly and Economic Welfare [6 Apr 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: Revision on Producer Surplus [4 Apr 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Productivity Improvements in China [3 Apr 2012]
Unit 3 Micro: Revision on Scale Economies, Technology and Prices [1 Apr 2012]
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Unit 1 Micro: Government launches New Buy Loan Guarantee Scheme [12 Mar 2012]
Unit 3 Micro: Low Pay in Supermarkets [24 Feb 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Focus on India - World’s Cheapest Computer [26 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Focus on India - Supply Side Issues [25 Jan 2012]
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Unit 3 Micro: Economies of Scale and the Kinect [31 Oct 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Google Maps to Charge for Usage [31 Oct 2011]
Unit 3 Micro: Examples of Price Discrimination in Action [31 Oct 2011]
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Unit 3 Micro: Ofcom gives stamp of approval for flexible pricing in mail [21 Oct 2011]
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Unit 1 Micro: Homework Assignment on Market Prices [2 Oct 2011]
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Unit 1 Micro: Exercise on Market Demand [25 Sep 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Economic Growth and Inequality [14 Sep 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Value Added in Production and GDP [11 Sep 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Baltic Dry Index and Global Weakening [19 Aug 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: The Price of Football [2 Aug 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Cotton Prices and the Retail Price of Clothing [13 Jul 2011]
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A2 Micro: Entry Barriers in Markets [19 May 2011]
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A2 Micro: The Importance of Profit [19 May 2011]
A2 Micro: Market Structure, Conduct & Performance [19 May 2011]
A2 Micro: Consequences of Price Discrimination [19 May 2011]
Unit 3 Micro: Perfect Competition [19 May 2011]
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A2 Micro: Business Growth [18 May 2011]
A2 Micro: Innovation and Economic Policies [18 May 2011]
A2 Micro: Minimum Efficient Scale [18 May 2011]
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AS Micro: Rising Global Food Prices [2 May 2011]
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A2 Micro: Updates on Competition Issues [2 Apr 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Relative deflation [2 Apr 2011]
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