That’s because monster overcharges, caffiene powder is cheap and you could add it to soda for cheap
Comment on why can't there be a soda dispenser for energy drinks?
Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Costs. These types of machines are generally free refills. You take a 32oz coke, and say actual cost to the store for you getting that coke is about 15 cents. You paid $2.30. Most people get 1 refill. But even if you get multiple, they still make profit.
I don’t know wholesale costs of monster, but I know a 20oz bottle in stores here costs about $2. While a 24oz can of monster costs about $9.
It wouldn’t surprise me if a 32oz fountain of monster cost the store like $0.70 wholesale. So there’s no way they could make profit if people got multiple refills.
Plus, if you try to sell the monster at a higher cost than coke, what would stop someone from dumping the coke, and refilling with monster? Paying the lower innitial price, and now getting refills.
BussyCat@lemmy.world 1 week ago
QualifiedKitten@lemmy.world 1 week ago
If you can get ahold of it, yes, very cheap. The problem is that a little goes a very long way, so it’s not so easy to get a hold of anymore, at least in the US.
It was probably 10 years ago that I discovered that I could buy a 500g bag of pure caffeine powder for about $20, plus a milligram scale for another $20. I was drinking quite a bit of sugar free Red Bull at the time, and had been ordering them by the case ($50ish?) to save a little money, so it was a no brainer for me to switch to caffeine powder. Break even point was maybe 2 weeks worth of caffeinated beverages.
The bad news is a few people OD’d on caffeine powder around that time (completely unrelated to me), so it was pretty much banned. The good news is that 500g is a fucking shit load of caffeine. I often get my caffeine from more traditional sources now (coffee, tea), so that bag may end up lasting me the rest of my life.
For some additional context, a 250mL (8.4 oz) can of Red Bull contains 80mg caffeine, while a 1/16 teaspoon (~0.3mL) scoop of pure caffeine powder is about 200mg. That works out to less than 0.5¢ ($0.005) of caffeine per Red Bull, and I’m not even getting wholesale pricing.
BussyCat@lemmy.world 1 week ago
You can get it super easy in the U.S. for cheap
Here is lab grade caffeine
That if you wanted to make 150mg energy drinks it would cost less than 3 cents each.
If you want to just mainline caffeine I would recommend caffiene pills they are preportioned and are cheap here are the equivalent to 100g pre measured out for under $20
But my point still remains that the cost of caffeine is completely irrelevant to the cost of energy drinks
QualifiedKitten@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Definitely in agreement that the cost of caffeine is a non-factor in the cost of energy drinks vs. other soft drinks.
I don’t believe Sigma Aldrich sells to the general public though, do they?
Personally, I prefer the loose powder vs. preportioned capsules or pills, since it allows me easier control over the dose. When I use caffeine powder, I usually mix it into a drink and just sip on it, rather than take it all at once. Sometimes I just want some herbal tea or a sparkling water with a little extra caffeine… I want the caffeine of coffee or energy drinks, but I don’t want the flavor. Way back in the day, I’d add about 200mg caffeine to a 1L bottle of water and sip on that until it was about halfway gone, then top it off with more water to dilute the remaining caffeine.
random@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 week ago
wtf? 0.5l of coke and 0.5l of monster cost the same where I live
JudahBenHur@lemm.ee 1 week ago
where the fuck you live that a monster costs nine dollars
MothmanDelorian@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Monster costs the company pennies more to make it. They just aggressively marketed these if they had a higher price because the iriginal one in the USA, Redbull, was imported from Ireland at first.
Fubarberry@sopuli.xyz 1 week ago
Plus, if you try to sell the monster at a higher cost than coke, what would stop someone from dumping the coke, and refilling with monster? Paying the lower innitial price, and now getting refills.
People have been doing that for years with buying water, and then filling it with fountain drinks.
I suppose you could counter it the same way that some stores handled the soda refill issue. Have the energy drink refills behind the counter, where only employees can refill it. Have a special cup so employees can tell which customers actually bought an energy drink. Also gives employees a chance to intervene if someone tries to get too much and kill themselves (like with the Panera Bread lemonade/
tacosanonymous@lemm.ee 1 week ago
WTF? Monster costs $9? That’s insane.
But you’re right it’s cost. I had a Soda Stream and I had the red bull syrup for it so the ability is there and the materials exist.