The entire beverage category is undergoing a major shift, due in large part to the energy drink craze, said Ted Taft, managing director, Meridian Consulting Group, Westport, Conn.

“Big categories like soft drinks are fighting for share with new categories,” he said. “With consumers, conventional category definition boundaries are blurring and shifting, because now they can find soft drinks with vitamins, beer with caffeine, and other new mixes.”

The targeted consumer has also changed. Not just for athletes anymore, energy drinks are now consumed by young people who want a hit of energy and those wanting to follow the latest trends.

“It isn't just 20-something guys consuming energy drinks anymore,” said Michelle Naughton, spokeswoman for Pepsi-Cola North America. “In fact, it's more like 60% male and 40% female. It's becoming more balanced, and people are drinking energy drinks at all times of the day, as a substitute for morning coffee or even as an afternoon pick-me-up.”

Pepsi chose to home in on NASCAR fans with its limited edition, orange/tangerine-flavored Jeff Gordon 24 Energy drink. The race car-inspired beverage was launched this spring and will be available for most of the summer.

This year, Pepsi also introduced Mountain Dew AMP Energy Overdrive, a cherry-flavored version of its hybrid drink Mountain Dew AMP Energy. The new entries join the company's other energy offerings, including Pepsi MAX, Diet Pepsi MAX, Amp Energy, SoBe Adrenaline Rush, SoBe Essential Energy and SoBe No Fear.

Some drink makers are going after specific ethnic groups. Consider Coca-Cola's Agave Azul-flavored Full Throttle Blue Demon. The beverage was introduced last November, targeting Hispanic men between the ages of 20 and 30.

Named after the masked Mexican wrestler Alexander Munoz Moreno — also known as Blue Demon — the drink has been marketed using bilingual graphics.

In March, Coca-Cola added Vault Red Blitz to its line-up, targeting the same core consumer group.

Other well-known names include Rip It, BooKoo, Von Dutch, Wired, Fixx, Redline, Hype, Who's Your Daddy? and Vim & Vigor.

No retailer can possibly carry every brand and flavor, so some, like Dahl's Foods, Des Moines, Iowa, take a store-by-store approach to determine the product mix.

“Our store directors know the movement of their products, and we give them free rein to analyze the data they have at their fingertips to figure out what works best for their individual stores,” said Mark Brase, vice president of marketing for Dahl's.

Some Dahl's stores set up shippers and other stand-alone displays for new drinks. But more often than not, the bottles and cans are kept on the shelf, said Brase. Red Bull and Monster are the best sellers there, so they always have prominent placement, he added.