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[Closed] Cost of making a can of Red Bull?

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Hi all,
Anyone on here happen to know, or know where I can find out, the cost of a making a can or Red Bull?
I know the actual can (can, opener, decoration) is about 20p, but anyone have any idea about the ingredients?

Ta, Duane.


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 4:51 pm
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it'll be mainly water so given the volume they churn out, no more than 0.1p ??


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 4:53 pm
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The can will cost waaaaaaaay less than 20p


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 4:53 pm
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I would expect the can to be about 3 or 4 pence


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 4:56 pm
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Decorated can in those volumes will be about 9p, i reckon. Contents about 2p. Filling storage and distribution perhaps as much as 5p. marketing and sponsorship £££££££!


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 4:58 pm
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Hmm, I was just going by what the second last dude said here;


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 4:58 pm
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If it's any more than 10p a can all in I'll be surprised!


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 4:59 pm
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aldi do a copy for 30 p ish


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 4:59 pm
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red bull is a private company so you cant even work off the company accounts.

as an educated guess and based on estimates online of c.1bn unit sales and revenue of c.€1.15bn in 2002, then it implies revenue at about €1 per can.

Pepsi and Coke have gross margins of around 50-60% so for Red bull the fixed and marginal cost of producing a can might be around €0.60. But thats not the cost of an individual cans production, rather the cost of the entire business stated as a function of can production volume.


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 5:03 pm
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aldi do a copy for 30 p ish

but you shouldn't take supermarket prices as general cost guide - they sell plenty of stuff at less-than-cost, booze for instance.


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 5:04 pm
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The can will cost waaaaaaaay less than 20p

+1

I would think something more like 2p


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 5:10 pm
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The cost of the product is nanoscopic in comparison to persuading people it is worth drinking, at the moment this involves:

Formula 1 team (600 strong work force)
WRC involvement
Planes flying between gigantic balloons
Numerous crash helmets for X-T-reem sports persons
Man in flying squirrel suit
Irritating ad campaign

keppoch


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 5:11 pm
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One of those businesses where the "product" isn't really the product.


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 5:15 pm
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As above, its going to be pennies at most to produce a can of red bull.

A bit like a company I used to work for, we bought in powders from quarries (sometimes litteraly the 'factory' floor sweepings) for ££ per ton and sold it for ££ per gram. It didn't make mega bucks though as theres a lot of less tangible stuff that makes the value like testing, acreditiation, ISO 9001, certification etc, a bit like red bull not actualy making £1.28 every time it sells a can for £1.29.


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 5:29 pm
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I got 6 cans of red bull copy from Lidl for 64p so the cost to produce must be less than 10p a can.


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 5:52 pm
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Dont they have 2x F1 teams, Torro Rosso too?

I think its great they have such a simple product and splash the cash on all sorts of crazy sports stuff.

Very rarely drink it though, although it is the only energy drink I have ever bought.

Shipping the stuff must be reasonably dear as cans stack with quite alot of air between them and also quite heavy.

20-30p per can?


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 5:54 pm
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Shipping the stuff must be reasonably dear as cans stack with quite alot of air between them and also quite heavy

But I assume they do it as others do it - in country of sale under licence - yes there will be transportation costs, but not as large as you might think.


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 5:56 pm
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but you shouldn't take supermarket prices as general cost guide - they sell plenty of stuff at less-than-cost, booze for instance.

I like this, cheap booze, it is good.


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 5:57 pm
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There will likely be more info available on the costs of pepsi or coke, so find those and try and work it out.


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 5:58 pm
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Duane, out of interest did I sell you a trailstar frame on SDH years ago?


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 6:10 pm
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If you're asking how much of a cash cow Red Bull is, bear in mind that if it costs (say) 30p to produce a can of RB and you pay £1.30 for it, that doesn't directly mean that RB are making £1 profit on every sale (and by extension, ripping you off).

It's the CD argument isn't it; just because you can buy a blank CD for 50p doesn't mean that the other twelve quid you pay for an album is going into Metallica / U2 / JLS's pockets.


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 6:17 pm
 Kato
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COuple of footy teams too no?

New York Red Bulls and Red Bull Salzburg. I believe they own the teams rather than just sponsoring them


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 6:18 pm
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(Now, you want a real cash cow - postmix soft drinks in cinemas and fast food outlets)


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 6:18 pm
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(Now, you want a real cash cow - postmix soft drinks in cinemas and fast food outlets)

Agreed - 1000%s profit to be had there. Pubs love it when people order coke - then just squirt some shite masquerading as 'the Real Thing' out of a 'Wunderbar'.


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 6:23 pm
 br
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[i]I know the actual can (can, opener, decoration) is about 20p[/i]

The alloy can/opener would cost you about 2p (depending on metal price) and the decoration could be 1-2p (depending on the quality required) - OT but when I worked for an aluminium company that produced the cans for the expensive dog/cat foods (Cesaer was one), and we were paid enough to hand-check every one for quality... and contents maybe a 1p.

So maybe the 20p is actually for the IP (transfer price) to whichever low-tax country they are registered in.


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 6:29 pm
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I got 6 cans of red bull copy from Lidl for 64p so the cost to produce must be less than 10p a can.

No, that doesn't mean anything!

Red Bull is a brilliant business model. I'd love to see their production v marketing costs.

I kind of see them as a public service. They persuade stupid people to drink mad induced water in a cool can and in return they give us F1 teams, planes, motorcross, mtb sponsorship etc etc.


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 6:31 pm
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I'm pretty sure it is 3p or so.

Was on a snowboarding holiday earlier this year with someone who works for Red Bull GP. Had a week full of Red Bull stories and I'm sure he said it was 3p a can at some point.


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 6:34 pm
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Cheers for all the replies 🙂

Basically, I have to do an essay looking into the marketing mix (product, price, place, promotion) used by Red Bull GmbH for their Red Bull energy drink.
So I obviously have to look into how much each can costs to make (hence this thread). I am aware of cheaper alternative, the large expense of promotion etc.

Would you say Red Bull are making a killing in general? Or are the huge promotion costs keeping profits down? Because theyre obviously making loads from the (price of can - cost of can), but other costs are enormous.

Cheers, Duane.


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 7:15 pm
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it's currently 2p per can inclusive of can.


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 7:28 pm
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How do you know that rolkin, if you dont mind me asking?


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 7:29 pm
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The price we pay for small measures of fizzy flavoured water.... hilarious


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 7:38 pm
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Would you say Red Bull are making a killing in general? Or are the huge promotion costs keeping profits down? Because theyre obviously making loads from the (price of can - cost of can), but other costs are enormous.

<pure speculation>

You have to imagine that they are making a killing. They don't need [b]two[/b] teams in F1...

</pure speculation>


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 8:06 pm
 Kuco
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Isn't it filled with bullock piss?


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 8:09 pm
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Well, those F1 teams cant be cheap, so maybe after the cost of the teams, they're no longer making a killing?

Kuco, all the ingredients are made synthetically. No bull semen.


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 8:11 pm
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As above, you can buy a copy product called Effect for 30p, same can, with print, similar taste.


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 8:21 pm
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my wife went to a marketing conference recently and red bull were there talking about their campaigns, sponsorships etc. i'm afraid i cannot tell you much other than the 2p per can thing, as that is all that stuck in my mind when she talked about it, she goes on a bit!


 
Posted : 10/11/2010 8:34 pm