How Tenzing Are Taking On Red Bull & Monster With The Good Energy Revolution, Ft. Huib van Bockel
The energy drinks category has grown year-on-year for three decades. Red Bull and Monster have dictated play; their high-octane branding has written the rulebook for how energy drinks show up on shelf and in culture.
But there’s a new wave of brands disrupting the category.
Tenzing - like their Everest-conquering sherpa namesake – are pioneering a new route, leading the way in what is a burgeoning natural energy subcategory.
With a pointed perspective that ‘life is too good for bad energy’, Tenzing are tackling artificial ‘big energy’ head-on with 100% natural ingredients, low calories, and simply put, no junk.
And not so coincidentally, their founder is ex-Red Bull.. Jamie Holtum recently sat down with Huib Van Bockel to talk all things good energy. Don’t miss out on the conversation.
Here’s what we discussed:
- Why life is too good for bad energy - unpacking the Tenzing ‘good energy mantra’
- How to truly adopt a challenger mindset in a big company
- Why format tweaks can instantly supersede brand and proposition
- Why the tough bits of founding a brand are often over-romanticised
- Scaling with outside investment, while staying mission‑led
Jamie Holtum
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-holtum-85b79634/
Haines
https://www.linkedin.com/company/hainespartners/
https://www.instagram.com/youmeandcpg/
Huib van Bockel
https://www.linkedin.com/in/huib-van-bockel-8454834/
TENZING
https://tenzingnaturalenergy.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/tenzing-natural-energy/
Episode highlights
“Startups drive innovation, because all these brands are stuck with old products that people have grown to love.” - 10:45 - Huib van Bockel
“Our mission is to spread good energy, and that's such a beautiful, simple mission.” - 12:05 - Huib van Bockel
“There's one thing that every startup who was ever successful did, and that was focus.” - 24:20 - Huib van Bockel
“We were the first national energy brand to say, ‘No, this stuff still works, but you don't have to worry about the health effects’.” - 32:55 - Huib van Bockel
“We are the number one energy drink in London Unis, we outsell the Red Bulls and the Monsters. We've been in Google ever since 2016 and they don't have any Red Bull any more.” - 31:20 - Huib van Bockel
“It's a bit of a strange one, but I've always thought you should be willing to be fired at all times. All the decisions that were really good that I made, were made by not listening to what was said. Just try and be free of that all, because I think you'll be better.” - 49:00 - Huib van Bockel
