The ‘no-Nitro’ condition: How one man got an RTD pulled from liquor stores

Sunday, 1 February 2026

Christchurch liquor stores have pulled Nitro - a vodka beverage with guarana - from their shelves in order to appease opponents to their liquor licences. A 1.25L bottle sells for around $14.

More than a dozen Christchurch bottle stores have had their licence renewed only after agreeing not to sell a controversial RTD, a move the manufacturer says is “unfair and unreasonable'.

National Brands Ltd, which makes the vodka-infused guarana beverage Nitro, took Christchurch District Licensing Committee (CDLC) to court, claiming the bans were unlawful and that it was being targeted with no chance to defend itself.

It lost. But said it was considering an appeal over the “very unusual and quite anti-competitive practice”. Meanwhile, alcohol safety campaigners say Nitro’s mix of alcohol, sugar and caffeine and clear youth marketing strategy made it more harmful than other products.

Advocate Paul McMahon drove several of the ‘no-Nitro’ conditions in off-licence renewals. “It was everywhere,” he says.

“It’s very hard on your nervous system,” said one. “It impairs judgement, you think you’re less intoxicated than you are… think of all the risks associated with drinking and multiply those out.”

The licensing issues began around 2022, when Merchant Liquor applied for an off-licence for its outlet on Lincoln Rd in Addington. Among the nine objectors was the Medical Officer of Health, whose counsel addressed a CDLC hearing and reported that they had visited the premises and the “Duty Manager was very responsive to her recommendation…to not stock any further supplies of the alcohol-mixed energy drinks, Nitro and Charged.” There was no further discussion of Nitro in the decision approving the licence, except for the condition, “There will be no sales of alcohol-mixed energy drinks such as Nitro or Charged.”

Merchant Liquor Store in Addington was one of six retailers cited in National Brands’ court case as being granted an off-licence only after agreeing not to sell Nitro.

National Brands only learned of the condition later. The Merchant application was one of six it cited in its High Court action, all approved on similar conditions. In some cases, objectors withdrew their opposition before a hearing if the retailer agreed not to sell Nitro.

They weren’t the only ones. The Press searched CLDC decisions over 2024 and 2025 and found at least 10 more licence applications granted with a ‘no-Nitro’ condition. Some included other similar brands like Honey Badger or Charged.

Super Liquor Linwood also had its off-licence renewed on the condition that “no Nitro or Honey Badger branded RTDs will be sold”.

National Brands director Steve Shaw felt the product was being singled out. “The proof is in the DLC written decisions where they only state Nitro by name,” he said. “[It] seems to be a very unusual and quite anti-competitive practice for a DLC to ban only Nitro and not any other products which have exactly the same ingredients and composition.”

He pointed to other RTD brands like Smirnoff and KGB, which had products with guarana at a similar alcohol content to Nitro and smaller brands like Rinse, Batched Espresso and Kahlua Espresso, which all contained either guarana or caffeine, “yet we have never seen any of these brands named in a DLC decision banning AmEDs (alcohol-mixed energy drinks)”.

Nitro was first released in 2016, branded as “a triple-distilled vodka beverage formulated with guarana” and available “in eight distinct and delicious flavours”. Typically, it is sold in a 1.25L bottle for around $14. Its alcohol content is 7%. (Technically, it is not an alcohol-mixed energy drink, as it has significantly less caffeine than the industry threshold (13mg/L vs the 145 mg/L). On this, counsel for National Brands told the court Nitro was a victim of “mistaken identity”.)

Ads like this one once drew a string of complaints against the vodka-guarana drink Nitro. Now the company that makes the beverage has gone to court claiming it is being targeted by licensing authorities.

Paul McMahon, a senior project worker for Community Action on Youth and Drugs, drove several of the ‘no-Nitro’ conditions in off-licence renewals. He presented six of those against opposing Merchant Liquor’s application. The brand was often named simply because it was the most common of a type, he said. “ Nitro was very well distributed by the bottle stores for a while. It was everywhere.”

“The product has been targeted. It's always been Nitro or other similar products.”

Nitro was also distinguished by its “irresponsible” advertising, he said. It ran afoul of the Advertising Standards Authority in 2019 for a Facebook post that showed the feet of two people in bed, one lying face down on the other, with the slogan “no regrets”. The ad stayed online for weeks after National Brands was ordered to take it down. In 2021, following complaints, the company pulled nine online ads featuring phrases like “3 DAY BENDER” and showed a person in a bikini bending backwards on a stage holding bottles and cans of Nitro.

Justice Rob Osborne ruled the CDLC was within its rights to grant liquor licences with conditions banning the sale of Nitro.

“[It was] clearly targeting young men,” McMahon said.

The recent court case hinged on a close reading of the Sale and Supply of Liquor Act 2012. National Brands argued the CDLC had overreached in its discretionary powers under the law by granting licences that restricted the sale of a single product like Nitro. If that was ever going to happen, it said, a different part of the legislation should be used. One that involved ministerial input and parliamentary scrutiny. Justice Rob Osborne disagreed: “It is clear [that section] of the Act was intended to confer a broad discretionary power on a licensing body to tailor conditions to the particular circumstances.”

There was no obligation to forewarn National Brands of conditions it may find “unacceptable”, the judge said. “The condition is in place only for the time being. National Brands will have, through publication of a decision, notice of the condition and will be able to seek leave to appear on any application for renewal.”

In the meantime, any effect on the brand remains unclear. Merchant Liquor Lincoln Rd manager Mani Vaja said about one in 10 customers come into the store looking to buy Nitro. “We still have a lot of people coming in to ask for it…[When we say we don’t have it] we always get the question, ‘Why don’t you?’”

“It is what it is. We’ll be all right.”