Long before Celsius became the beverage of choice for athletes like US Olympic sprinter Noah Lyles, the product hit the market in 2004 as the first "negative calorie" soft drink. In spite of its popularity among the weight-loss community, the brand struggled to get mainstream traction. Declining sales volumes led to a falling stock price, leading the company to be delisted from the Nasdaq exchange, which disallows any stock trading below $1 for extended periods.
Arguably the bigger hit came in 2012 when Costco quit carrying the product, costing Celsius over half of its revenue in one go, CEO John Fieldly recalled during a recent interview. "We got our pink slip from Costco," Fieldly told Logan Bartlett on Bartlett's podcast. "That was a really scary time." Together with other retailers dropping Celsius, it marked a crucial challenge for the brand's survival.
Fieldly credited southern grocery chains Publix and HEB with sticking with Celsius through that challenging patch when other retailers were walking away. He also mentioned that the decision to sell on Amazon helped propel the brand into a close rivalry with Monster at the top spot for energy drinks on the e-commerce site.
"An energy drink is normally an impulse purchase," he said. Instead, customers were spending $25 on cases to stock their fridges, making Celsius "part of a daily regimen for many consumers, transforming their purchasing habits and allowing us to capture a larger market share effectively."
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