With consumers eating out less, non-alcoholic beverages have experienced a major boost in retail sales over the last year. This category is divided into numerous segments, including bottled water, soft drinks, juices, RTD coffee, tea, and sports drinks. Total global revenue of this market was a massive $1.13 trillion in 2019. The trends that are driving the non-alcoholic beverage market include mocktails, health-driven additives, and craft claims having a health halo. Among these trends are three important takeaways: fruity flavors are making a comeback, consumers are looking for a healthy energy boost, and the opportunity is ripe for innovating with classic beverages.
Throughout the pandemic, mocktails, or drinks based off alcoholic beverages without containing alcohol, saw a major jump. Some of these concepts include cosmopolitans, Moscow mules, and even distilled non-alcoholic spirits for consumers to experiment with themselves. Mocktails are ideally suited for innovation which is cause for another boom in popularity. This is especially true for younger consumers, ages 22-25, who don’t drink alcoholic beverages due to their lack of interest in alcohol. Our suggestion when innovating is to focus on citrus and fruity flavors as they have also been growing due to their perceived health benefits. For example, our Sparkling Raspberry Lemonade checks all the boxes when it comes to a mocktail innovation – it even has edible glitter!
Soda has also grown over the past five years, which is largely credited to health-driven additions and flavor innovation. Like the mocktail segment, fruity and tart flavors are trending. For example, according to Mintel, Black Cherry Soda has seen a 74% increase of menu mentions from Q3 ’17- Q3 ’20. This aligns with the consumer-packaged sodas that include fruity flavors as they see a significant boom in popularity. Some of the product releases include flavors such as blueberry and wild cherry.
On the flip side, sparkling juices are taking over retail spaces with their fresh and natural flavors and health benefits that the soda segment that hasn’t been able to offer consumers. These products specifically call-out their health claims with buzzwords such as immunity, botanical, naturally flavored, non-GMO, and no preservatives. Following closely behind, is sparkling water – pushed as a soda alternative for health-conscious consumers who are looking to reduce their sugar intake and benefit their health. Sparkling water has substantial room for flavor innovation by including unique trending flavors like cayenne pepper, lemon, and elderflower. The health trend is not going anywhere; the majority of consumers are now searching for products that have immunity and health boosting ingredients.
Non-alcoholic beverages are a growing category with significant opportunity for innovation in flavor and product claims. Consumers are always looking for what’s next when it comes to this category and are open to trying new flavors and beverage types. Keep a close eye on non-alcoholic beverages and consider how you can innovate with unique flavors that consumers will crave!
Looking to find trending flavors for your ready-to-drink beverages? Work with our R&D and Marketing departments to create something special by connecting with us here.
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