3 April 2008 - Austrian Energy drink producer Red Bull, on 1 April 2008, finally gained access to the French market.
France’s food safety agency AFSSA had previously not authorised the sale of Red Bull’s products due to the presence of taurine, an organic acid in the drinks, as its long term effects on the human body are not well known.
Red Bull, in order to enter France, removed the taurine ingredient and swapped it with arginine.
This swap in ingredients is a first as Red Bull has never changed the formulation of its drink since the creation of the company by Dietrich Mateschitz in 1987. The company, however, stressed the fact that Red Bull’s beneficial effects are the same in every single drink sold worldwide.
The Austrian company, known for its non-conformist style, picked April Fools' Day to end the long dry spell for France. The company, in a statement, said it “made a spectacular entry into France” and the “highlight of the celebrations marking the arrival of the energy drink was a Red Bull-style car rally around the Arc de Triomphe by the Wings Teams”.
More recently the need for the company to enter France increased as Red Bull also owns the Toro Rosso Formula 1 racing team with one of the cars driven by a Frenchman, Sebastien Bourdais. Bourdais is competing in the formula 1 championship for the first time this year and has become very popular amongst French viewers.