The European Commission has opened an antitrust investigation to assess whether energy drinks company Red Bull has illegally restricted competition within the category.

The probe is significant, as it marks the EU Commission’s first formal investigation into a potential abuse of a category management position by a supplier to limit or disadvantage competing products.

In a statement released yesterday (13 November 2025), the Commission said that Red Bull may have developed a European Economic Area (EEA)-wide strategy to restrict competition from energy drinks larger than 250ml in the off-trade channel, in retail outlets such as supermarkets and petrol station shops.

Allegedly, Red Bull’s strategy targeted its ‘closest competitor’ in the energy drinks market, the EU Commission said – though it did not disclose the name of the brand.

It expressed concern that Red Bull may have implemented this strategy in the Netherlands in particular, where it holds a dominant position in the national market for the wholesale supply of branded energy drinks.

Two suspected anti-competitive practices are at the centre of the investigation. One such practice is granting monetary and non-monetary incentives to off-trade customers to delist, or disadvantage (such as in terms of visibility), competing energy drinks sold in sizes exceeding 250ml (Red Bull’s most widely recognised can size).

The other is misuse of a category management position at off-trade customers, so that competing energy drinks sold in sizes exceeding 250ml are delisted or disadvantaged.

Under category management arrangements, retailers entrust the marketing of a category of products – such as energy drinks – to a specific supplier (the category ‘captain’ or ‘manager’).

Acting as a category manager may cover not only the supplier’s products, but also the competitor’s. The category manager may therefore have influence on factors such as the selection, placement and promotion of competing products in a store.

If such practices are proven, Red Bull may have breached EU competition rules that prohibit the abuse of a dominant position. The Commission said it will now carry out its ‘in-depth’ investigation as a priority.

It carried out unannounced inspections at the headquarters of Red Bull, located in Austria, and at several of its EEA subsidiaries in March 2023. The Commission then continued the inspection at its premises in Brussels in June 2023, and between August and September 2023.

Red Bull challenged the decision authorising the Commission to carry out inspections to the General Court. The company also requested the suspension of the continued inspection at the Commission’s Brussels premises.

In September 2023, the president of the General Court dismissed the request for suspension, and in October 2025, the General Court rejected Red Bull's challenge against the inspection decision. It stated that that decision was ‘well-founded’ and ‘adopted on the basis of sufficient indicia, and that it was neither arbitrary nor disproportionate’.

FoodBev has reached out to Red Bull for comment on the latest developments.

The EU Commission’s Teresa Ribera, executive vice president for Clean, Just and Competetive Transition, said: “We want to see if these practices may be keeping prices high and limiting choice of energy drinks for consumers. This investigation is part of the Commission’s continued efforts to enforce competition rules in the food supply chain to the benefit of European consumers.”