Chaleo Yoovidhya was born into a poor Thai-Chinese family in Central Thailand. From a young age he helped his family raise ducks and sell fruit and had very little formal education. As a young micro entrepreneur, he got some experience as an 'antibiotics salesman' and Chaleo went on to set up his own small pharmaceutical company in the early 1960s.

Fortunately for him, in the mid-1970s, he noticed that Thai truck drivers and laborers consumed a Japanese tonic drink called 'Lipovitan' to counter fatigue and in an entreprenerial spirit in 1976, he introduced his own energy-boosting drink called 'Krating Daeng' for the truck drivers and laborers. 'Krating' in Thai refers to a reddish-brown bovine called a "gaur", an animal slightly larger than the bison and 'Daeng' means red.

In 1984, Chaleo partnered with an Austrian entrepreneur, Dietrich Mateschitz and launched the brand internationally. They simply translated the brand name 'Krating Daeng' into English and called it 'Red Bull'. Chaleo, the poor boy who used to raise ducks, became the third-richest person in Thailand, with an estimated net worth of $5 billion. Sadly, he passed away last year.

This is the story of the humble beginning of Red Bull, the world's most popular energy drink. Red Bull, a brand that figuratively 'gives you wings', is marketed through advertising, events, sports team ownerships, celebrity endorsements and music.

Krating Daeng or Red Bull Classic comes in a wider gold can rather than the tall and slim blue-silver can and is sold in Thailand and in some parts of Asia. The irony here is that Krating Daeng and a regular Red Bull are two different products and are produced separately.


Stay tuned for more of such interesting brand stories.