Living Essentials: Shot in the arm…

Cynics said they would never catch on. Who would cough up $2.99 for a mouthful of caffeine, taurine and vitamins when you can enjoy a coffee and a snack for the same price?

Well, rather a lot of people, it appears. In less than a decade, energy shots have come from nowhere to break the billion dollar sales barrier, and Living Essentials - the company behind the brand accounting for almost 9 out of every 10 dollars spent in the category - has its manufacturing base in Wabash, Northeast Indiana. 

The firm, which recently embarked on a $25.5m, 1-million square feet expansion to its production facility, creating 200 jobs, has added four new production lines and now produces well over 9m bottles of 5-hour Energy a week.

Headquartered in Farmington Hills, Michigan, Living Essentials moved its production operations to Wabash, Indiana, in 2007 and located its distribution center there a year later. Since then, it has expanded its campus here significantly, adding new production lines and an R&D operation, totaling more than $55m in capital investment.