Focus on health-promoting beverages

The motto for modern consumers is light, conscious and healthy: today natural foods and drinks also serve as support for everyday life. They are focused on the key topics of immune system, performance, relaxation and digestion. This has created a market for new beverages. And: The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the trend!

A few years ago, drinks with the extra benefit for the body were reserved for the fitness studios. After training, a quick protein shake was popular. Today we find bottles, cans and boxes with a special claim for health and beauty in almost all variants.
Today, functional drinks, associated with body, psyche and well-being can already be bought in supermarkets, petrol station shops and company canteens. Instead of having toast with jam in the morning, consumers are now opting for special drinks: for example, they go for a green smoothie in the morning, and if they eat a sandwich at noon in the office, they will also have a probiotic yoghurt drink wit hprobiotic ingredients.

This change, caused by Corona, could actually manifest itself in the markets in a concrete value of $ 229 billion. Functional food and beverages have experienced another global upswing - and the trend towards the importance of healthy diet continues to grow.

Source: "Future functional food and how to market them

Functional drinks: drinks as new all-rounders

In general, the following exciting facts are certain:
• 43 percent of US consumers say they would try to eat healthy without following a strict diet
• Two-thirds of adults prefer foods that “promise a good source of vitamins and minerals”
• In the UK, 71 percent plan to change their diets sustainably since the corona pandemic
• 65 percent of US consumers want functional food with an effect which is immediately noticeable
• Almost half of consumers worldwide are aware of the “added value” in every respect: 40 percent expect functional food in the premium price segment

What kind of drinks are we talking about? Functional Food and drinks communicate a very specific claim for health, well-being or beauty. It is important that the benefits are communicated clearly and appropriately. Ingredients like CBD, turmeric, ginseng, rose root and ashwagandha are at the top of the ingredients of the beverage manufacturers for this kind of functional beverages. Also products can be found in which cold brew coffee is flavoured with fruit juice!

Source: "A year of innovation in juice & beverage concentrates, 2020 - Functional health boosts continue to inspire juice innovation, while more sophisticated alternatives for adults are gaining wider traction.", Mittel, Amrin Walji, February 2020

Maintain the immune system through fruit juice

Among the fruit juices, claims for better immune defense and anti-aging effects lead the popularity range. 63 percent of consumers had identified immune defense as a top benefit for food. Experts expect that this trend will soon be replaced by a new one: In the future, gastrointestinal health will be more the focus of beverage manufacturers for functional beverages, because only in Germany 54 percent of consumers are already actively looking for beverages that contribute to normal digestion. This can be achieved, for example, by actively adding live yoghurt cultures. They improve lactose digestion of the product in individuals who have difficulty digesting lactose.

Source: "A year of innovation in juice & beverage concentrates, 2020 - Functional health boosts continue to inspire juice innovation, while more sophisticated alternatives for adults are gaining wider traction.", Mittel, Amrin Walji, February 2020
"Future functional food and how to market them"

Drinks for beauty "from the inside"

Those who are slim generally not only live healthier, but are also considered more attractive - and modern consumers are now increasingly looking to optimize their appearance holistically. While both women and more and more men are being beautified by beauty docs and use injections or surgical interventions and sometimes have large sums of money for skin-rejuvenating creams in the shops, drinks should now also have functional claims regarding the skin. These could be for example some added ingriedents like Vitamin C which contributes to maintain the normal function of the collagen formation for the normal function of skin.  Also polyphenols and flavonoids, which can be found in berries are popular!
In China, beauty from the inside is already particularly popular: there, 45 percent of consumers state that they are interested in drinkable beauty ingredients. 72 percent of millennials see nutrition as an opportunity to improve their complexion.

Source: "A year of innovation in juice & beverage concentrates, 2020 - Functional health boosts continue to inspire juice innovation, while more sophisticated alternatives for adults are gaining wider traction.", Mittel, Amrin Walji, February 2020
"Future functional food and how to market them"

CONCLUSION:

While health and wellness have been major trends in the beverage market for years, the corona pandemic has further intensified and accelerated the awareness of these topics. Juice drinks which are fortified with functional vitamins and minerals have gained profile across the Asian and also American region. Also added ingredients as polyphenols, flavonoids and adaptogens will be found even more in functional beverages.