Southwest Airlines Introduces MONSTER Energy Drinks Onboard

DALLAS, May 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- This week, Southwest debuted its newest beverage -- MONSTER LO-CARB. MONSTER'S ten-calorie energy drink can make longhaul flights a breeze allowing passengers to charge through the rest of their day.

"Southwest Airlines Customers are interested in more drink choices, and with the popularity of MONSTER, we knew we were making a winning decision," said Scott Halfmann, Southwest Vice President of Provisioning. "After carefully exploring and tasting our options in the non-alcoholic energy drink market, we feel we are offering Customers the best product out there."

Southwest began offering MONSTER LO-CARB onboard this week. The airline is offering the 8.3-ounce can of MONSTER LO-CARB for $3 or Customers can redeem Southwest's popular drink coupons for the beverage.

Weeks before the beverage was brought onboard the aircraft, Southwest and MONSTER toured the country hosting tastings for Southwest Airlines Flight Crews so they could experience the beverage firsthand before MONSTER was offered to Customers.

"We're excited to watch MONSTER take flight," said Dan Lamb, Vice President, Business Development and On-Premise Channels, Hansen Beverage Company. "MONSTER consumers have proven to be extremely loyal, so we know they'll appreciate finding their favorite drink on board Southwest. We salute Southwest for being one of the first major airlines to offer an energy drink to U.S. travelers."

MONSTER LO-CARB is produced by Hansen Natural Corporation and is distributed through the Anheuser-Busch wholesaler network. The energy drink category has grown dramatically over the last few years. Beverage Marketing Corporation reports that the category rose 24.7 percent in 2007. According to ACNielsen, MONSTER is the number one energy drink brand ranked by volume.

"Today's consumers have made energy drinks one of the fastest-growing segments of the beverage industry," said Gary Goldstein, Vice President, On-Premise Chain Sales, Anheuser-Busch. "As more diverse consumers discover the category, that growth is expected to continue over the coming years, making this a perfect time for Southwest to add MONSTER LO-CARB to its beverage service."

ABOUT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES

After 37 years of service, Southwest Airlines continues to offer the best value in airline travel, allowing Customers the opportunity to travel nonstop throughout the country at a very low fare. Southwest offers a very comfortable ride with premium all leather seats and plenty of legroom. Southwest does not charge Customers an extra fee for changing their reservation and continues to offer free amenities. Customers enjoy complimentary pillows, blankets, snacks, juice, soda, and water on all flights. Since 1987, the airline has maintained the fewest overall Customer complaints as published in the Department of Transportation's Air Travel Consumer Report. Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV), the nation's largest carrier in terms of domestic passengers enplaned, currently serves 64 cities in 32 states. Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,400 flights a day and has more than 34,000 Employees systemwide.

ABOUT HANSEN NATURAL CORPORATION

Based in Corona, California, Hansen Natural Corporation markets and distributes Hansen's Natural Sodas, sparkling beverages, fruit juice Smoothies, Energy drinks, Energade energy sports drinks, multi-vitamin juice drinks in aseptic packaging, Junior Juice juice, iced teas, apple juice and juice blends, Blue Sky brand beverages, Monster Energy brand energy drinks, Java Monster brand non-carbonated dairy based coffee drinks, Lost Energy brand energy drinks, Joker Mad Energy, Unbound Energy and Ace Energy brand energy drinks, Rumba brand energy juice, and Fizzit brand powdered drink mixes. For more information visit http://www.hansens.com and http://www.monsterenergy.com.

ABOUT ANHEUSER-BUSCH

Based in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch is the leading American brewer, holding a 48.5 percent share of U.S. beer sales. The company brews the world's largest-selling beers, Budweiser and Bud Light. Anheuser-Busch also owns a 50 percent share in Grupo Modelo, Mexico's leading brewer, and a 27 percent share in China brewer Tsingtao, whose namesake beer brand is the country's best-selling premium beer. Anheuser-Busch ranked No. 1 among beverage companies in FORTUNE Magazine's Most Admired U.S. and Global Companies lists in 2008. Anheuser-Busch is one of the largest theme park operators in the United States, is a major manufacturer of aluminum cans; and one of the world's largest recyclers of aluminum cans. For more information, visit http://www.anheuser-busch.com.