Bang Energy Parent Files for Bankruptcy

Oct. 13, 2022

The move comes after two Monster judgments.

The parent company of Bang Energy has filed for bankruptcy, shortly after being hit with a $293 million judgment in a lawsuit brought by a competitor.

Vital Pharmaceuticals, doing business as VPX Sports, filed for Chapter 11 protection in bankruptcy court in the southern district of Florida. The company announced that it will continue production and distribution of Bang products through the bankruptcy process.

The decision came shortly a jury in California awarded $293 million to Monster Energy Co., a Bang competitor. Monster convinced the jury that Bang’s claim to use “super creatine” was fraudulent, because the product actually contains no creatine of any kind, and that the falsehood damaged Monster’s business.

That was the second major court loss for VPX/Bang this year. Monster and Orange Bang, a beverage company based in Sylmar, Calif., combined to reach a $175 million judgment against VPX/Bang in April. An arbitrator ruled that VPX had violated an earlier agreement with Orange Bang, a settlement of a 2010 lawsuit in which Bang agreed to limit the distribution of its product and keep the Bang name out of 12 states, including California.

VPX said in a statement that the bankruptcy filing is “a restorative action to help the company recover from…multiple lawsuits that impacted the Company’s short-term outlook.”

About the Author

Pan Demetrakakes | Senior Editor

Pan has written about the food and beverage industry for more than 25 years. His areas of coverage have included formulations, processing, packaging, marketing and retailing. Pan worked for Food Processing Magazine for six years in the 1990s, where he was operations editor (his current role), touring dozens of food plants of every description. He has also worked for Packaging and Food & Beverage Packaging magazines, the latter as chief editor, during which he won three ASBPE awards. He is a graduate of Stanford University with a BA in communications.