The Lawsuit’s Core Allegations
Vitamin Energy filed its lawsuit in November 2024, claiming that 5-Hour Energy’s parent company, Living Essentials, uses allegedly illegal exclusive-placement agreements with convenience stores to dominate the 2-ounce energy shot market. According to the complaint, 5-Hour Energy’s stranglehold on prime point-of-sale locations blocks out smaller rivals, leaving consumers with fewer competitive choices.
“By obtaining and maintaining a monopoly in the energy shot market, Defendants have harmed other competitors selling energy shots, have harmed consumers who purchase energy shots, and have directly harmed competition in the energy shot market,” the lawsuit states.
On top of that, Vitamin Energy claims its own negotiations with retailers—such as Pilot stores and Casey’s—were undermined by 5-Hour Energy, which allegedly incentivized these chains to bury Vitamin Energy’s products in “secondary, more obscure” locations. From my perspective, this suggests a calculated maneuver to ensure 5-Hour Energy’s brand remains front and center on checkout counters nationwide.
