Monster Will Increase Prices as of Aug. 31

NEW YORK — Monster Beverage Corp. will institute a 6-percent list price increase to retailers on Aug. 31, reported Bonnie Herzog, managing director of beverage, tobacco and convenience store research at Wells Fargo Securities LLC.

This price change follows a previous announcement from Monster that it planned to institute a mid-single-digit price increase in the early fall.

The increase will likely only apply to the company's core energy products in 15.5/16-ounce cans, and not products such as Java Monster or Muscle Monster, Herzog stated.

Monster Energy won't be the only energy drink to rise in price this year. Red Bull announced its own 4- to 6-percent price increases at the beginning of 2015.

The 2.5-month lead time on Monster's price increase is longer than typical and potentially gives retailers more opportunity to purchase inventory before it goes into effect. Wells Fargo believes there is still "pricing power" in the energy category.

Monster also plans to introduce the new 100-calorie M100 brand later this year to compete with PepsiCo's Kickstart brand, according to the Wells Fargo report. Citrus and orange flavors will be available in camouflage packaging.