Energy is perhaps the biggest and most important beverage category in convenience stores, Nicholas Reed, category manager at Knoxville, Tennessee-based travel center operator Pilot Co., said Wednesday at the NACS Show in Las Vegas.

Energy is one of the four key growth areas in beverages, along with protein, hydration and functional beverages, he said.

“Energy continues to be one of the most important and fastest-growing beverage categories, but what’s interesting isn’t just the growth of the category itself, it’s how it continues to evolve,” Reed said.

• Pilot Co. is No. 16 on CSP’s 2026 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count. 
  
  

Historically, energy brands have primarily competed on stimulation, caffeine levels and performance, but today Reed said he’s seeing brands win in a variety of ways and carve out their own segments in the category.

“You still have your traditional workhorses; Red Bull and Monster are behemoths within the category,” Reed said. “They drive significant volume and are extremely important.”

However, there also are other brands carving out their own segments, Reed said, calling out Celsius, Alani Nu and Bloom Energy in the wellness-oriented segment.

Other brands, like C4 Energy and Bang Energy, lean heavily into athletic performance and workout occasions, he said. Meanwhile, brands like Ghost have demonstrated the power of flavor partnerships, fandom and consumer experience.

“The common theme across all these is that consumers want energy, but they’re just also looking for something else to go along with it, and that’s not just limited to energy,” Reed said. “We’re seeing that in a lot of different performance categories. Take protein as an example.”

Protein goes mainstream

“When we talk about performance beverages, protein is one of the clearest examples,” Reed said.

Ten years ago, protein was largely associated with bodybuilders, athletes and specialty nutrition stores, Reed said. Today, however, protein has become mainstream.

“Sure, consumers are still using it for those traditional ways, but increasingly they’re also using it for appetite suppression, recovery, everyday nutrition and just building those wellness routines,” he said. “And this isn’t just a trend across beverage. As you walk the NACS floor today, I’m sure you’ll notice that everyone and their mother has some sort of protein offering up there.”

While wellness routines have helped in a lot of the protein growth out there, “another important thing to recognize is that a lot of success for protein has come from manufacturers finding a way to make protein taste good and not sacrifice taste. In fact, that might be protein’s greatest innovation. Not necessarily how do we jam more proteins into something, but how do we make that consumption experience enjoyable?”

And as protein continues to grow, consumers are also “telling us something different: They want the benefit of protein without always having to go to a shake or dairy-based product in order to get it,” Reed said.

This is where clear protein, “a lighter, more refreshing delivery” versus a heavy milkshake, comes in, Reed said.

As protein continues to grow, consumers are also reshaping what they expect the delivery system to look like, he said, adding that while traditional protein shakes have been extremely successful, they’re often associated with meal replacement and workout recovery.

Many consumers want the benefit of protein shakes without drinking a heavy beverage that bogs them down, he said.

Clear protein is “not only allowing users another way to get protein, but it’s also unlocking additional beverage occasions,” he said.