Welcome to the annual meeting for Monster Beverage Corporation. Our host for today's call is Paul Dechary, Executive Vice President and General Counsel. At this time, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. I will now turn the call over to your host. Mr. Dechary, you may begin.
Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. I am Paul Dechary, Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Monster Energy Company. Before we begin, please take note of our cautionary statement posted on the meeting site. The virtual meeting today will include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Federal securities laws and are based on currently available information. Management cautions that these statements are based on our current knowledge and expectations and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside the control of the company, that may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements made during this virtual meeting.
Please refer to our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and our subsequently filed quarterly report, including the sections contained therein, entitled Risk Factors and Forward-Looking Statements, for discussion on specific risks and uncertainties that may affect our performance. The company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. I will be turning the proceedings over to Mr. Rodney Sacks, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Monster Beverage Corporation, and Mr. Hilton Schlosberg, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Monster Beverage Corporation, but first wanted to discuss the format of today's virtual meeting.
We've designed this virtual meeting to provide stockholders with the same rights and opportunities to participate as they normally would at an in-person meeting. We will conduct the annual meeting portion of the meeting first, during which we will address three items of business detailed in the company's proxy statement. After the three proposals have been presented, we will conduct a question and answer session specifically relating to the proposals. Following the formal portion of the meeting, the company will provide a general business update that includes a question and answer session. The meeting agenda and the rules of conduct are available on the meeting website. We ask that you review these documents, and we appreciate your cooperation.
Stockholders attending the virtual meeting can vote their shares online through the closing of the polls by logging into the meeting website as a stockholder and clicking the Vote Here button on the screen. If you have previously voted by proxy and do not wish to change your vote, your vote will be cast as you previously instructed and no further action is required. If you have logged into the meeting website, you may submit questions by typing them into the text box on your screen. If asking a question, please include your name and affiliation to the company. To ensure that we receive your questions before the Q&A session is closed, we encourage you to submit your questions early. Please note we may not be able to answer every question during the meeting due to time constraints. Finally, please note that today's meeting is being recorded.
It is my pleasure to hand the meeting over to Mr. Sacks and Mr. Schlosberg.
Thank you. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Rodney Sacks, and I'm Chairman of the Board of Directors and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Monster Beverage Corporation. It is our great pleasure to welcome you to this annual meeting of the stockholders of Monster Beverage Corporation. Also joining Mr. Schlosberg and myself for the virtual meeting today are all of the other directors of the company, Ana Demel, Tiffany Hall, Mark Vidergauz, Mark Hall, Gary Fayard, Jeanne Jackson, James Dinkins, and Steven Pizula. Thomas Kelly, Chief Financial Officer, and Paul Dechary, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Monster Energy Company, are on the webcast as well. Mr. Dechary will act as secretary of this meeting. Also on this webcast are representatives of Ernst & Young, LLP, the company's independent registered public accounting firm.
Although Ernst & Young LLP has indicated that it does not wish to make a statement, its representatives are available to respond to appropriate questions from stockholders of the company during the question and answer period. The purpose of this meeting is to consider and act upon proposals to, 1, elect 10 directors to the board of directors of the company. 2, ratify the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as independent registered public accounting firm of the company for the year ending December 31, 2024. And 3, approve on a non-binding advisory basis, the compensation of the company's named executive officers. Mr. Dechary will now report on the proof of the due calling of this meeting.
Thank you. I have a copy of the notice of annual meeting of stockholders dated April 26, 2024, setting forth the time, place, and purpose of this meeting. I also have an affidavit of an employee of Broadridge Financial Solutions showing that on April 26, 2024, Broadridge caused to be mailed a copy of the notice of internet availability of proxy materials to each stockholder of record of the company on the record date. In addition, I have a complete list compiled by Equiniti Trust Company, LLC, the company's transfer agent of the stockholders of the company as of the close of business on the record date, April 22, 2024.
Thank you. A copy of the notice of annual meeting of stockholders and affidavit of mailing will be placed with the records of the company as part of the minutes of the meeting, and the list of stockholders will also be filed with the records of the company. Thomas Kelly has been appointed as Inspector of Election with respect to the conduct of the voting at this meeting. He has executed his oath of office and given the oath to me. The oath will be filed with the minutes of the meeting. Mr. Kelly has informed me that a quorum is present, so I declare the meeting duly and lawfully convened, and the polls are therefore now open. We will close the polls after the proposals have been presented.... The next item on the meeting's agenda is Proposal One: the election of directors.
The nominees, as set forth in the proxy statement, are Hilton Schlosberg, Mark Hall, Ana Demel, James Dinkins, Gary Fayard, Tiffany Hall, Jeanne Jackson, Steven Pizula, Mark Vidergauz, and me. Certain information regarding the nominees can be found in the proxy statement. The board of directors of the company recommends a vote for each of the nominees. The second item is Proposal Two: the ratification of the selection of Ernst & Young LLP as independent registered public accounting firm of the company for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024. The board of directors recommends a vote for ratification of the selection of Ernst & Young LLP as independent registered public accounting firm of the company for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024. The third item is Proposal Three: approval on a non-binding advisory basis of the compensation of the company's named executive officers.
The board of directors recommends a vote for, on a non-binding advisory basis, the compensation of the company's named executive officers, described in the compensation discussion and analysis, the summary compensation table, and the related compensation tables and narrative in the proxy statement for the company's 2024 annual meeting of stockholders. We will now turn to the question and answer session for questions related to the three proposals we just received. I remind you, there will be an opportunity for general questions not related to the three proposals after the formal portion of the meeting has concluded. If any stockholder has a question on the three proposals for me or a member of the board or the company's independent registered public accounting firm, we would be happy to try and answer them at this time. Mr. Dechary , can you please present the first question?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. At this time, I don't see any questions pertaining to the three proxy proposals.
That will conclude this question and answer session for the items you have been asked to vote on at today's meeting. For those stockholders who have not yet voted, we are preparing to close the polls, and we'll wait only a few more moments to cast your vote using the Vote Here button on the virtual meeting website. If you have previously voted, you don't need to take any further action. Right now, we'll briefly pause to allow for any final votes. Now that everyone has had the opportunity to vote, I declare the polls closed. I've received the preliminary voting results from the Inspector of Election. Please note the following vote is preliminary. If you voted today, your vote will be tallied and included in our final vote results, which will be reported on a Form 8-K within four business days.
The preliminary voting results show that with respect to Proposal One, the election of directors, all of the director nominees have been duly elected to serve until the 2025 annual meeting. With respect to Proposal Two, the selection of Ernst & Young LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024, has been ratified by the affirmative vote of approximately 100% of the votes cast. With respect to Proposal Three, a non-binding advisory vote on the compensation of the company's named executive officers, has been approved on an advisory basis by the affirmative vote of approximately 94% of the votes cast. I hereby request that the preliminary report of the Inspector of Election be filed with the minutes of this meeting. We've now concluded those matters specified in the notice of annual meeting of stockholders.
There have been no further business to come before the meeting. I will entertain a motion to adjourn. Is there such a motion?
I move that the meeting be adjourned.
The formal portion of the meeting is now adjourned. We will now proceed to the business discussion portion of the meeting, which will be brief, as we just had our earnings call last month. After our brief remarks, Hilton and I will answer some questions. As indicated during our conference call on May 2, 2024, we will be taking a price increase in the fourth quarter of 2024 in the United States. As you have probably seen, on June 10, the company announced the final results of its modified Dutch auction tender offer.
The company accepted for purchase a total of 56,603,773 shares, representing approximately 5.4% of the shares issued and outstanding immediately prior to the completion of the purchase, at a price of $53 per share for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $3 billion, excluding fees and expenses relating to the tender offer. This tender offer was made outside of and in addition to the company's existing stock repurchase programs, under which the company had $642.4 million available as of May 7, 2024. The company may purchase additional shares in the future in the open market, subject to market conditions or in private transactions, exchange offers, tender offers, or otherwise.
Monster Energy continues to solidify its relevance with our core consumers, introducing relevant sponsorships and properties across the Monster claw brands, including sponsorship of a global music tour of Green Day, sponsorship of the McLaren Formula One team, and a new Call of Duty gaming promotion in the second half of 2024. We have signed a top streaming and content development organization, Any Means Possible, in support of the Bang brand. An extensive calendar of Bang, Any Means Possible events have been developed, as well as branding across their social media platforms and streaming channel. We have added the American actress and model, Madelyn Cline, to our roster of influencers for the Reign Storm brand. Madelyn will anchor over 100 Reign Storm influencers to support the brand.
In the United States, we launched a number of new products in the first quarter, which we reported on last month in our first quarter conference call. We are planning to launch Monster Ultra Vice Guava this fall, and are planning an extensive promotional program in support of the launch. In Canada, we launched Reign Storm in four flavors during the month of April 2024, and are in the process of launching Bang in four flavors this month. As we had discussed during the first quarter conference call, we launched a number of Monster innovations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa in the first quarter of 2024, including the major rollout of Monster Green Zero Sugar, which is now in 29 markets. We are currently launching Juice Monster Bad Apple and Monster Ultra Peachy Keen in a number of markets in EMEA.
We will be launching various Monster, Reign Storm, strategic brands, and Predator SKUs in additional markets in EMEA throughout the rest of 2024. During the first quarter of 2024 in Asia Pacific, we launched a number of new products in various countries. As reported on our first quarter conference call, in April 2024, we launched Predator Gold Strike in a non-carbonated 500 mL PET bottle in selected provinces of China. Initial acceptance from retailers and consumers nearly 2 months after the launch remains positive. In provinces where we launched Predator, sales of Predator are incremental to those of Monster. We are assessing further introductions of Predator in additional provinces in China. We remain optimistic about the long-term prospects for the Monster brand in China, and are excited about the launch of Predator this year.
Looking ahead, we have a robust innovation pipeline planned for 2025 in North America, as well as internationally. As reported on our first quarter conference call, The Beast Unleashed and Nasty Beast are now available in 49 states through a network of beer distributors. The Beast Unleashed should be available in all 50 states by the end of July. We will also launch a second variety pack of The Beast Unleashed in the third quarter of 2024, and we'll follow that with the launch of two new flavors in 24-ounce cans in select markets in the fourth quarter. It is important to remind listeners that with respect to energy drinks, Nielsen data does not capture many of the channels in which we operate. We have several food service, on-premise customers and other wholesalers and retailers, including Costco, Home Depot and Lowe's, which are not measured by Nielsen.
Online sales through Amazon and other e-commerce sites are also not measured by Nielsen. Furthermore, Nielsen reports sales to consumers, whereas we report on sales to our bottlers and direct customers. As a result, there will generally be a difference between Nielsen's statistics and our sales. The company continues to have market share leadership in the energy drink category for all outlets combined in the United States in the 13-week period into June 1, 2024. According to the Nielsen reports, for the 13 weeks through June 1, 2024, for all outlets combined, namely convenience, grocery, drug, mass merchandisers, sales in dollars in the energy drink category, including energy shots, increased by 2.4% versus the same period a year ago. Sales of the company's energy brands, excluding Bang, were down 0.9% in the 13-week period.
Sales of Monster declined 1.9%, sales of Reign were up 7%, sales of NOS increased 4.8%, and sales of Full Throttle decreased 1.9%. Sales of Red Bull increased 2.4%. According to Nielsen, for the four weeks ended June 1, 2024, sales in dollars in the energy drink category in the Convenience and Gas channel, including energy shots in dollars, decreased 2.2% over the same period the previous year. Sales of the company's energy brands, excluding Bang, decreased 4.3% in the four-week period in the Convenience and Gas channel. Sales of Monster decreased by 5.2% over the same period versus the previous year. Reign sales increased 0.3%, NOS was up 2.7%, and Full Throttle was down 8.6%.
Sales of Red Bull were down 1.7%. According to Nielsen, for the four weeks ended June 1, 2024, the company's market share of the energy drink category in the Convenience and Gas channel, including energy shots in dollars, decreased from 35.8% to 35%, excluding Bang. Including Bang, the company's market share is 36.7%. Monster share decreased from 29.6% a year ago to 28.7%. Reign's share increased 0.1 share point to 3%. NOS's share increased 0.1 share point to 2.6%, and Full Throttle share remained at 0.7%. Bang's share was 1.7%. Red Bull share increased 0.2 share points to 35.6%.
Market shares of certain competitors were as follows: Celsius, 8.3%; C4, 3.5%; 5-hour ENERGY, 3.3%; Ghost, 3%; and Rockstar, 2.9%. According to Nielsen, for the 4 weeks ended June 1, 2024, sales in dollars of the coffee plus energy drink category, which includes our Java Monster line in the convenience and gas channel, decreased 11.9% over the same period the previous year. Sales of Java Monster, including Java Monster 300, were 5.9% lower in the same period versus the previous year. Sales of Starbucks Energy were 19.5% lower. Java Monster's share in the coffee plus energy drink category for the 4 weeks ended June 1, 2024, was 58.3%, up 3.8 points, while Starbucks-...
Monster Energy's share was 41.3%, down 3.9 points. According to Nielsen, in all measured channels in Canada for the twelve weeks ended May 18, 2024, the energy drink category increased 8.9% in dollars. Sales of the company's energy drink brands increased 1% versus a year ago. The market share of the company's energy drink brands decreased 3.1 points to 40.1%. Monster sales increased 0.5%, and its market share decreased 3 points to 35.7%. NOS sales increased 3.7%, and its market share decreased 0.1 of a point to 1.2%. Full Throttle sales increased 24%, and its market share remained at 0.4 of a point.
According to Nielsen, for all outlets combined in Mexico, the energy drink category increased 20.1% for the month of April 2024. Monster sales increased 17.6%. Monster's market share in value decreased by 0.6 of a point to 28.7% against the comparable period the previous year. Sales of Predator increased 21.5%, and its market share increased 0.1 of a share point to 6%. The Nielsen statistics for Mexico cover single months, which is a short period that may often be materially influenced, positively and/or negatively, by sales in the OXXO convenience chain, which dominates the market. Sales in the OXXO convenience chain, in turn, can be materially influenced by promotions that may be undertaken in that chain by one or more energy drink brands during a particular month.
Consequently, such activities could have a significant impact on the monthly Nielsen statistics for Mexico. According to Nielsen, in the 13-week period to the end of May 2024, Monster's retail market share in value, as compared to the same period the previous year, grew from 32.1% to 32.8% in France, from 30.9% to 33.5% in Great Britain, from 5.2% to 6.7% in the Netherlands, and from 41.4% to 41.5% in Spain. Monster's retail market share in value, as compared to the same period the previous year, declined from 35.1% to 32.1% in Norway.
According to Nielsen, in the 13-week period ending May 5, 2024, Monster's retail market share in value, as compared to the same period the previous year, declined from 16.7% to 16.1% in Germany. According to Nielsen, in the 13-week period to the end of April 2024, Monster's retail market share in value, as compared to the same period the previous year, grew from 15.9% to 16.4% in Belgium. Monster's retail market share in value, as compared to the same period the previous year, declined from 19.1% to 18.5% in South Africa, and from 17.5% to 14.3% in Sweden.
According to Nielsen, in the 13-week period to the end of March 2024, Monster's retail market share in value, as compared to the same period the previous year, grew from 20.8% to 22.5% in the Czech Republic, from 29.7% to 29.8% in Italy, and from 28.8% to 30.2% in the Republic of Ireland. Monster's retail market share in value, as compared to the same period the previous year, declined from 27.8% to 26.9% in Denmark, and from 37% to 34.6% in Greece, and from 19.3% to 19% in Poland.
According to Nielsen, in the 13-week period to the end of March 2024, Predator's retail market share in value, as compared to the same period the previous year, grew from 32.3% to 35.4% in Kenya and from 19.4% to 21.1% in Nigeria. Combining our markets in EMEA for the last 13 weeks, the energy category has grown 14.4%, 12.6% in Western Europe, and 9% in Eastern Europe. Of note, for the same period, the category in Great Britain grew 10.9%, in Germany, 17.4%, in France, 15.6%, in Ireland, 14.1%, in Spain, 5.5%, and in South Africa, 4.9%.
According to Nielsen, all outlets combined in Brazil, the energy drink category increased 15.7% for the month of April 2024. Monster sales increased 25.8%. Monster's market share in value increased 3.9 points to 48.4% compared to April 2023. In Argentina, due in part to hyperinflation, the energy drink category increased 285.1% for the month of April 2024. Monster's sales increased 305%. Monster's market share in value increased 2.8 points to 57.6%, compared to April 2023. In Chile, the energy drink category decreased 8% for the month of April 2024. Monster's sales decreased 8.7%. Monster's market share in value decreased 0.3 of a share point to 42%.
Monster Energy remains the leading energy brand in value in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. According to IRI, for all outlets combined in Australia, the energy drink category increased 8.9% for the four weeks ending May 26, 2024. Monster sales increased 27.1%. Monster's market share in value increased 2.8 points to 19.2% against the comparable period the previous year. Sales of Mother increased 8.6%, and its market share remained at 10.9%. According to IRI, for all outlets combined in New Zealand, the energy drink category increased 4% in the four weeks ending May 26, 2024. Monster sales increased 9.8%.... Monster's market share in value increased 0.8 of a share point to 15.1%, against the comparable period the previous year.
Sales of Mother increased 47.9%, and its market share increased 2 share points to 6.9%. Sales of Live+ decreased 5.1%, and its market share decreased 0.5 of a share point to 5.4%. According to INTAGE, in the convenience channel in Japan, the energy drink category increased 3% for the month of April 2024. Monster's sales increased 9.4%. Monster's market share in value increased 3.6 points to 60.7% against the comparable period the previous year. According to Nielsen, all outlets combined in South Korea, the energy drink category increased 19.2% for the month of April 2024. Monster's sales increased 7.7%.
Monster's market share in value decreased 5.9 points to 54.7% against the comparable period the previous year. We again point out that certain market statistics that cover single months or 4-week periods may often be materially influenced, positively and/or negatively, by promotions or other trading factors during those periods. We have seen a slowing in growth in the energy category in the United States. On the other hand, looking at our international business, which represents an increasing proportion of our sales, the energy drink category continues to experience growth in the majority of our major markets, as I reported earlier. I would now like to open the floor to any questions from shareholders. Mr. Dechary, can you please present the first question?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll read the questions verbatim. The first question is from Filippo Falorni at Citi. Can you provide more color on your planned price increase in Q4, including what brands will see an increase and the magnitude of the increase? Do you expect higher elasticities from the price increase, given the consumer health is now lower compared to the last time you took pricing?
Okay, maybe I'll take that question. So internationally, we have taken price in 2023 and more recently in some markets and territories. In the United States, and I think that's the reference to this particular question, we are taking an approximately 5% price increase on our core brands and packages, effective November 1, 2024. We are not currently planning to take price on Bang, Reign, and Reign Storm as we continue to push consumer trial and awareness for those brands. Our last price increase, and this is of note, on 16-ounce, our leading package, was in September 2022, and was approximately, you'll recall, about 6.5%.
Apart from modest price increase- increases on lesser sales volume packages, like 24-ounce, and pricing actions on promotions, September 2022 was our first price increase since November 2018. As you are all aware, our costs have risen substantially in the last several years. As we've mentioned in the past, our brands are, in many ways, an affordable luxury. We are a growing brand in a growing category. And when I talk about the category, I mean a combination of measured Nielsen channels, as well as unmeasured channels and customers. We are not anticipating any different elasticities than in prior price increases.
Thank you. Our next question is a two-part question from Broadwood Capital. The first question: in recent years, the U.S. energy drink market has seen a substantial portion of its growth driven by newer subsegments, such as performance energy and better-for-you drinks. As you look out to the next five years, how do you see the U.S. energy drink market evolving? Do you see the core energy drink market starting to grow significantly again, or do you expect most of the growth to continue to be in the newer segments? How do recent innovations like Reign Storm and future innovations fit into this outlook? Do you think that you will bring Nalu or another better-for-you female-focused brand to the U.S.?
Thanks. All right, I'll have a stab at answering that. While it is correct that a portion, I'm not sure it's a substantial portion, when you look at the actual dollar terms as opposed to percentages of growth, has been driven by newer subsegments. We are also still seeing growth in many of our own subsections. For example, Reign is growing, Ultra is growing. And so, you know, we look at each of these different products, zero sugar, Monster, as opportunities to continue to grow our core brand. We also have additional brands in these sectors, and obviously, we are looking at each of those brands playing an important role in different respects. You've got Reign Storm, which is in a 12-ounce can.
It's going, you know, directly head-to-head with Celsius and some of those—some of the other products like Alani Nu. On the other hand, you've got Bang, which also plays in that sector, but slightly different audience. It's a 16-ounce can, and it will be positioned differently. And then ultimately, you've still got our main Ultra line, which, if you look at as an independent line, is a very substantive line, as big or bigger than all these brands.... So we have a number of ways of addressing the emerging sector. We still have Reign as well, which is performing strongly in the performance sector. We have NOS, which is, again, has its own positioning.
So we've got a broad array of brands to continue to help drive, and, you know, demand and satisfy demand, and basically play in the broader section as the category is actually continuing to evolve and broaden. So we think there will be place for the core brands to continue to grow. You know, referring to Nalu, it's a niche brand. It's done very well in Belgium. But, you know, we've thought about it, and it's just, again, something else in our arsenal. We have that opportunity to consider bringing it to the U.S. We may think about introducing it in maybe another North American market before, but, you know, these are things that we're continuing to evaluate. We're at the early stages of launching and supporting with new...
a lot of marketing programs, Reign Storm and Bang, and reestablishing Bang. So at this stage, we're focusing on those brands, and then we'll relook at things, you know, after they've been given a chance to get reestablished and to start making their own mark in their own categories.
Great. And the second part of the question from Broadwood Capital, when do you think that you can create successful new alcohol brands that do not leverage any aspect of the Monster brand, the way that The Beast Unleashed and Nasty Beast did? What about distilled products like RTD cocktails?
You know, perhaps I'll just quickly answer that as well. Starting with distilled products, we obviously are looking at that market. The market is growing, but the... At the same time, we've got to keep focused on what we're doing. We're at the very early stages. We've just launched The Beast. It's our second year. We're rolling it out. We've changed and increased the packaging. We're now launching it in convenience channel in 24-ounce cans. We've just launched it within a few months, Nasty Beast in a 12-ounce variety pack and in 24-ounce can. So these products are still going out. They still have very limited distribution. We have a large runway, and I think we've got to focus first before we run around and get, you know, start launching too many other products.
We have them planned, we have them in the innovation pipeline. We're looking at them, and we'll, we'll sort of release them as and when we think it is appropriate. I think we need to solidify Beast and Nasty Beast first, and then, you know, then we can look, look further afield to these other opportunities. We, we acknowledge that they are there. It's a question of, you know, doing things sensibly one at a time. Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question is from Nick Modi at RBC.
Monster has done an incredible job building its brand globally, but the company still behaves like a startup. While this is good in many respects, how do you think about hiring outside talent to bring in new perspective around capabilities like revenue growth management, procurement, supply chain, et cetera?
So I'll take that one. Nick, thanks for that question. It's actually quite an interesting question because we currently employ, you know, around 6,000 team members worldwide. And we continue to expand our capabilities across the board to facilitate the growth of the company, which of course, we have to do. And you know, we've always prided ourselves on our entrepreneurial spirit, and we're always seeking to promote and develop our best internal talent, and we do complement with external hires to bring new perspectives into the company. You know, we continue to invest in our Revenue Growth Management team, which has now been in existence for several years now. Our supply chain and procurement groups have equally benefited from both internal promotions and external hires.
We've recruited a new Chief People's Officer and a new Chief Information Officer, both joined us a few months ago. Some recent notable promotions from within are our EVP and General Counsel, our Chief Operations and Supply Chain Officer, and our Deputy Chief Financial Officer. If I've missed any, maybe they'll forgive me. But we have a good cadre of internal hires as well as external. Also of note is we recently appointed Rob Gehring, Chief Executive Officer of Swire Coca-Cola, one of the larger Coke bottlers in the U.S., who will be joining us in the next few months as our Chief Growth Officer. I hope that answered your question.
Thank you. Our next question is from Dara Mohsenian at Morgan Stanley.
What do you think is driving the recent U.S. energy category softness, and do you expect these factors to linger?
You know, this is a question everybody's asking and everybody's been talking about. I think we've got to take into account a number of things. One was, I think the category really grew very much last year, so we're looking and comparing to higher growth numbers from last year. But in addition, it's... If you think about it, it's our main business is in the Convenience and Gas channel. The Convenience and Gas channel has generally seen softer numbers. They've seen softer gas sales, softer traffic into their stores, and that is generally affecting, I think, everywhere. If you look at the category, generally, the category, if you take into account non-measured channels, is continuing to grow, and it's just a slight slowdown in that category.
What's been really encouraging is that if you look at the category worldwide, many countries that the category started before the US, but the US growth rates actually exceeded a lot of the international markets over the past decade or so. But they are continuing to show growth, and are catching up and are very healthy, you know, even very well-established markets in Western Europe, et cetera. So we don't know, I think nobody knows. It would be speculative to say, you know, when we think it's gonna grow, start growing again or pick up again. But we do believe it's temporary, and that we will start to see growth. We've got some very exciting innovation where we think it will make a difference.
We're very focused on getting execution and looking at that aspect of our business, and strengthening our execution capabilities in store, and we think that will help us as well. So, you know, we are positive about the second half of the year. Thank you.
Thank you. We have time for one more question. The last question is also from Dara Mohsenian at Morgan Stanley.
What are you expecting for promotional environment this summer, and how might that impact your announced list price increase in the fall?
So another question from Dara. Okay, I'll take that one. You know, for summer 2024, we are increasing the depth and frequency of our promotions at retail for Bang and Reign Storm to drive consumer engagement and trial. And, this will also be underpinned by our recent marketing partnership influencer initiatives, which we discussed earlier in this meeting. In short, we're looking to a full court press on marketing and trial for these brands, which, and as I mentioned earlier, these brands will not be subject to the November price increase. Our core energy 2024 summer promotions should really be consistent with what we've run, what we ran in 2023. We don't expect the promotional environment on our core energy brands to impact the price increase.
Thank you. With that, I will turn it back to Rodney for his closing remarks.
Thanks, Paul. On behalf of Monster, I'd like to thank everyone for attending our virtual annual meeting and business update, and for your continued interest in the company. We continue to believe in the company and our growth strategy, and remain committed to continuing to innovate, develop, and differentiate our brands, and expanding the company both at home and abroad. We believe that we are well-positioned in the beverage industry, and continue to be optimistic about our total portfolio of beverages. We have a robust innovation pipeline for 2025 and beyond. Thank you very much for your attendance.
This now concludes the meeting. Thank you for joining, and have a pleasant day.