The GHOST Energy x A&W collaboration turns a familiar soda flavour into a new licensed drink, extending both brands’ partnership into another consumer occasion.
GHOST is bringing A&W Root Beer into the energy drink aisle through GHOST Energy x A&W, a new flavour built around the taste of a classic root beer float. The product combines A&W’s recognisable profile with GHOST’s energy drink format and is now available at select retailers nationwide. The launch illustrates how beverage brands are using familiar flavours and licensed collaborations to create new uses for established names.
The drink is positioned around a sweet, indulgent taste with a smooth, creamy finish, drawing directly on the sensory cues of a root beer float. Rather than presenting root beer as a standalone soft drink occasion, the collaboration places it within a product associated with energy and performance. That framing gives A&W a route into a different part of the beverage market while allowing GHOST to build on its existing flavour-led approach.
GHOST Energy x A&W is available through selected retailers including ABSCO, Casey’s, Circle K, CVS, DoorDash, Publix, Kroger, Target and Walmart. The product is the second licensed energy drink flavour from GHOST and Keurig Dr Pepper in 2026, following the brands’ work on GHOST Energy x 7UP. The companies describe the partnership as a way to bring recognisable flavours into new categories and consumer experiences.
For GHOST, the collaboration extends a business model built around sports nutrition, energy drinks, dietary supplements, apparel and partnerships with established flavour brands. Its portfolio has included collaborations involving OREO, Chips Ahoy!, Cinnabon, Sour Patch Kids, Sonic Drive-In, Warheads, Swedish Fish and Welch’s, while the brand also entered high-protein cereals in 2024. The A&W product therefore sits within a broader effort to connect performance-oriented products with familiar food and drink cues.
The collaboration also shows the commercial value of translating a nostalgic flavour into a format with a different role and retail setting. A&W gains another expression of its brand, while GHOST adds a recognisable profile to its energy range without moving away from its established collaboration strategy. The result is a narrowly focused product extension that places familiarity at the centre of innovation in the energy drink category.
