‘Healthy’ soft drinks flavours set to be next global beverage trend
‘Healthy’ flavours, such as herbs and spices, honey and new-generation ‘superfruits’ will be the next “boom” in the global beverage market, according to global market research organisation Innova Market Insights.
While flavour trends can vary markedly by region, data collected by Innova Market Insights, indicates that rising interest in ‘superfruits’ is evident globally, with pomegranate still leading the field.
According to Innova Market Insights, pomegranate accounted for over 40 per cent of tracked beverage launches featuring ‘superfruit’ flavours over the period between June 2008 and May 2013. This figure was well ahead of acai (12.5 per cent) and lychee (12 per cent). Emerging or new-generation ‘superfruits’ were led by guanabana/soursop, cactus/prickly pear and marula.
“Cactus/prickly pear is one of the emerging superfruit flavours in the North American beverage market,” said Lu Ann Williams, Head of Research at Innova Market Insights.
“US launches over the past year including Cactus Juice and Cactus Tea from Nopal, and Prickly Pear Cactus Tea from Hunter and Hilsberg, as well as Martinelli’s Prickly Passion Lemonade juice drink, feature prickly pear puree,” Ms Williams said.
Vegetable flavours also featured strongly, according to Innova Market Insights, often in combination with fruit flavours, in juices, smoothies and teas. The Company said the vegetable flavours added “health-giving phytochemicals” to the drinks, as well as a new flavour element.
The number of beverages featuring celery rose six-fold in 2012, according to Innova Market Insights, while those featuring cucumber and beetroot doubled. Kale also started to feature in the beverages market in 2012.
The general rise in interest in hot and spicy flavours in the US food market as a whole also spread to the beverages sector, according to data from Innova Market Insights. This led to the emergence of hot and spicy variants featuring ingredients such as black pepper and chillies, including Habanero, Jalapeno and Chipotle.
Innova Market Insights will report on the latest soft drink trends and emerging flavours at its Taste the Trend Pavillion at this year’s IFT Food Expo in Chicago (14-16 July 2013).
No such thing as a superfruit or superfoods, this is just marketing jibber to con consumers into buying. With the amount of chemicals , preservatives and sugar that will go into these drinks, they will never be classed as healthy.
Some very interesting points are made in this article. At http://www.realsoftdrinks.com.au, we are always interested in market trends. We already stock Guave, passionfruit and peach soft drinks. Happy to look for more exotic flavours if people want them.