In the ever changing, high-margins world of beverage services, predicting customer tastes is crucial to maximizing success. What drinks will buyers seek in the near future? More and more, some experts suggest, making customers happy will entail making them healthier.
Members of World Tea Media, in preparation for the first-ever Healthy Beverage Expo, on June 7-9, 2013, in Las Vegas, have shared seven key trends for 2013-2014 in the emerging market of health-conscious drinks. These cutting-edge products and technologies stand out among the burgeoning category of health-based drinks, promising the greatest rewards for beverage service managers and operators in the months to come.
1) “Two-for-one” Beverages
Beverage manufacturers are increasingly combining ingredients to widen the functional benefits of their drinks, on levels as varied as preparation time, vitamin and mineral content, energy supply and sugar content.
According to Kim Jage, marketing and sales director of Healthy Beverage Expo, these so-called “two-for-one” beverages will include options that provide essential fatty acids, waters enhanced with electrolytes but not synthetic flavoring, and drinks promoting brain health and bone health.
2) Improved Sweeteners
While sugary drinks are likely here to stay, a recent industry report,“7 Key Changes the Beverage Industry Must Accept,”suggests that American consumers are gradually shifting their preference toward less sweet, lower-calorie options. This will lead many brands to diminish their drinks’ sugar content by up to a third, according the study.
As for artificially sweetened drinks, consumers can expect greater taste and more natural ingredients with the emergence of new synthetic sweeteners. Healthy Beverage Expo’s Kim Jage predicts that some of these sweeteners, such as monkfruit, may overtake some of today’s popular options in the beverage market.
3) Healthier Alcoholic Drinks
Despite their inherit health risks, alcoholic beverages will not be excluded from the healthy beverage trend. Enhanced alcoholic options will feature a wide variety of benefits, such as lower calorie counts, all-natural and organic ingredients, and vitamin enhancements. Additionally, some alcoholic beverage brands will begin to highlight pre-existing health benefits, such as their non-GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) status.
4) Healthy Drinks for Teenagers and Children
The health-based beverage trend will not only involve new products, but also re-targeted markets for established offerings. Of particular interest to many beverage brands is the current lack of choices for consumers under the age of 18.
According to Jage, children and teenagers require pick-me-ups and relaxing comfort drinks just as much as adults in today’s busy world, yet many appropriate options for minors are often not marketed toward them. In the coming year, new and re-branded beverages will expand the choices of American youth far beyond the typical soda, juice and water selections.
5) Drinks with Culinary Seasonings
Previously the domain of exotic cocktails, the inclusion of gastronomical ingredients will enrich a breadth of newer beverage options. These seasonings and spices will not only lead to exciting new flavor experiences, but often offer important health benefits as well. Bold new culinary seasonings in drinks may also revolutionize the offerings for drinkable meal options, a field known for its shortcomings in taste.
6) Improved Ready-to-Drink (RTD) Coffee Choices
Ready-to-Drink (RTD) coffees are an established, rewarding niche, yet healthier RTD options still have not met the market demand for sweeter, flavor-packed options. However, that may be about to change, with the introduction of new low-calorie, enhanced and all-natural RTD choices that can satisfy the sweet tooth of the market.
7) Healthy, Simple Lemonade
Another staple soon to experience resurgence in the beverage world is basic lemonade. In coming months, marketers will progressively begin touting the inherit health offerings of pure lemon as a natural digestive aide that is rich in antioxidants as well as dietary fiber. With the prevalence of complicated and engineered drinks soon to arrive, the simplicity and detoxification effects of pure lemonade will stand out as a refreshing alternative.
Curtis Rogers is NCA’s marketing communications assistant manager.