The energy drink aisle is getting another dose of legacy-brand licensing: GHOST has launched GHOST Energy x A&W Root Beer, its second co-branded flavor with Keurig Dr Pepper in calendar year 2026. The SKU is now available at select retailers nationwide — including Walmart, Target, Kroger, Publix, CVS, Circle K, Casey's, ABSCO, and DoorDash — and follows the earlier GHOST Energy x 7UP release that established the two companies' collaborative pipeline.

Behind the Partnership

The A&W collaboration fits a deliberate licensing playbook GHOST has executed across its portfolio. The Chicago-based lifestyle-nutrition brand has previously partnered with flavor brands including OREO, Sour Patch Kids, Cinnabon, and Sonic Drive-In to extend recognizable taste profiles into the energy-drink and sports-nutrition formats. The A&W root beer float profile — marketed as a "sweet, indulgent flavor experience with a smooth, creamy finish" — is designed to exploit nostalgia as a purchase driver at a moment when the functional-beverage segment is saturated with undifferentiated options.

Dan Lourenco, Founder and CEO of GHOST, framed the release explicitly as momentum-building on the KDP relationship. "A&W has such a strong legacy — it's instantly recognizable and gives us the chance to do something completely unexpected in energy," Lourenco said, signaling that additional co-branded flavors from the partnership remain in the pipeline.

Category and Retail Context

For Keurig Dr Pepper, the arrangement extends marquee owned-and-licensed brands into the high-velocity energy segment without requiring proprietary formula development. Justin Whitmore, President of Energy, Juice, Sauce, and Drink Mix Brands at Keurig Dr Pepper, characterized the strategy as occasion expansion: "GHOST Energy x A&W gives fans a fresh way to enjoy a familiar favorite, combining the timeless appeal of A&W with the performance benefits energy drink consumers expect."

The licensed-flavor model has become a meaningful competitive lever in the non-alcoholic beverage segment, where brand recognition at shelf can drive trial in a crowded cooler set. Monster, Celsius, and Reign have each experimented with co-branded or nostalgia-forward LTOs to capture impulse purchase. GHOST's approach — pairing sports-nutrition transparency claims with mainstream consumer flavor brands — targets a crossover audience that shops both the supplement aisle and the convenience-store cooler door.

The retail footprint for the A&W SKU spans mass, drug, grocery, and convenience channels simultaneously, a broad day-one distribution push consistent with GHOST's positioning as a beverage and retail growth story rather than a specialty-channel brand. The brand reports distribution in more than 40 countries, anchored domestically by GNC and major mass retailers.

Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.