Rejuvenating Refreshments

Functional beverages aim to satisfy the taste buds while also providing healthful benefits.  

“Ahhhhh.”

It is that satisfying sound many people make after taking a gulp of a thirst-quenching beverage. Whether looking to re-hydrate after a heart rate-accelerating activity or just yearning for a tasty drink with a meal, consumers are seeking ready-to-drink beverages that deliver that  “ahh” moment.

However, people are no longer aimlessly considering their beverage options. With an increased focus on health and wellness, a beverage’s ingredients play an important role in whether or not a shopper grabs it off the store shelf. Consumers increasingly want the drinks they consume to have some nutritional value without added sugars or other artificial ingredients. As such, the demand for functional, healthy beverages has surged.

In fact, the functional beverage market continues to grow steadily by about 9% annually, says Paul Underhill, co-founder and partner of Rumble Drinks, maker of Rumble Supershake, based in Victoria, B.C., Canada. Industry estimates suggest that sports, nutritional and protein drink sales will increase 44% by 2018 to total around $18 billion.

“We see higher demand for beverages that deliver more than just refreshment,” Underhill says. “People are increasingly time pressured, and they are also seeking healthier options. They don’t want to compromise health for the sake of convenience or taste.”

Fortunately, beverage manufacturers are up to the task of delivering on taste and nutrition across a variety of segments including enhanced water, energy drinks and juice.    

“There’s a lot of innovation in the healthy beverage space with new products and emerging brands,” says Dana Symons, marketing manager at Old Orchard Brands, based in Sparta, Mich. “There continues to be a lot of new product launches focused on functional or value-added drinks.”

Among these innovations, beverages with protein have struck a chord with consumers. “Consumers are looking to add protein to their diets, and being able to have ready-to-go protein in a delicious convenient method is resonating with the consumer,” says Peter Dacey, CEO of Branford, Conn.-based Miami Bay Beverage Co., maker of Trimino branded protein water.

Trimino is a convenient source of protein, Dacey adds. The protein infused water has seven grams of protein per serving, B vitamins, no sugar or caffeine and only 28 calories. It comes in four flavors: strawberry lemonade, mixed berry, coconut pineapple and peach. “We also have additional flavors and innovations in our product pipeline and will be releasing them over the coming months,” says Dacey. 

Retailers would be wise to stay attuned to the innovations in the protein beverage segment. According to industry reports, liquid protein will grow 15% by 2016 to $3.4 billion. As consumers learn the benefits of protein in their diets, the category will continue to grow, says Robert Kral, president and CEO of Protein2o, based in Chicago. “There are a lot of great benefits that Protein2o provides; fueling our incredible growth with the mass consumer and our growth in the retail chains,” Kral says.

The benefits of Protien2o protein water include natural energy, satiety, weight loss, cognition and metabolism, says Kral. It has 15 grams of protein with 70 calories per bottle. The gluten-, fat- and sugar-free beverage is available in four flavors: wild cherry, grape, mixed berry and lemon splash. Protien2o will introduce additional flavors by the end of 2015 or in early 2016, Kral adds.

Water is not the only RTD category in which protein is making a splash. Better-for-you meal supplements like milks and shakes also boast protein as an added benefit. Underhill says the Rumble Supershake is an all-natural nourishing drink that features a proprietary protein blend of fast absorbing, high-quality whey protein isolate, which helps muscles recover and provides instant satiation along with milk protein concentrate and calcium caseinate from fresh skim milk to provide slower dieting for lasting fullness.

“We offer three flavors of Rumble, all with the same attributes: Vanilla Maple, Dutch Cocao and our newest addition to the lineup, Coffee Bean,” Underhill adds.

Energy Boost 

While protein is driving major growth in the segment, industry observers say there are a number of other ingredients that naturally contain functional benefits that are resonating with consumers. Hydrating coconut water and antioxidant-rich acai berries are a few examples. Guayusa leaves are a new ingredient—which provide natural energy—that is gaining traction in the market, says Tyler Gage, co-founder and co-CEO of New York-based Runa.

“Guayusa is an Amazonian super leaf brewed like tea, with as much caffeine as a cup of coffee and double the antioxidants of leading green tea products,” Gage says. “Indigenous hunters in the Amazon drink guayusa before going hunting in the jungle at night to give them focus, strength and energy.”

In addition to boosting energy, guayusa has other health benefits—it is rich in chlorogenic acid and polyphenol. Runa offers a line of organic, non-GMO teas and energy drinks made from guayusa. The company recently debuted three new ready-to-drink bottled tea flavors—Sweet Peach, Raspberry and Half & Half—and a new flavor in its Clean Energy drink lineup: Orange Passion. The Clean Energy drink line also includes Berry and Original Zero flavors.  Hold the Sugar

While consumers are looking for added functional benefits in their refreshments, there has also been a strong focus on sugar content, observers say. “The 2015 USDA dietary guidelines called for a significant cut in sugar intake, which will only further the trend toward low-sugar and no sugar added product,” Symons says.

Many juice companies, like Old Orchard Brands, are offering reduced-sugar drinks to meet the needs of customers that still want something delicious to accompany a meal, but also want to keep their sugar intake low. “Our Healthy Balance reduced-sugar drinks, sweetened with Splenda, remain one of our top-selling product segments,” Symons says. “It is one of the only juice lines on the market suitable for a diabetic or reduced-sugar diet, and it is also available in a broad range of flavors, including two new tropical flavors just launched this spring: Pineapple Orange and Peach Mango.”

Consumers with diets that require less sugar are not the only demographic that beverage companies are trying to reach. Parents that want to feel good about the drinks they give their kids are also seeking natural, minimally processed beverages. “In the kid space specifically, the focus on natural ingredients, benefits from familiar vitamins and the ‘absence of the negatives’ are still strong from a consumer prospective,” says Brent Guinn, vice president of marketing for Atlanta-based In Zone Brands, which manufactures the good2grow line of children’s beverages.

“With no added sugar and nothing artificial, we’re very much in line with a mom’s evolving requirements to make it into her basket,” Guinn says. “Our brand offers a rich experience for kids that makes consuming better-for-you products much more acceptable to them.” The company offers a range of kid’s drinks that includes 100% juice items, and fruit and vegetable juice brands. Good2grow also recently introduced purified water beverages that are lightly flavored with USDA-organic juice and Stevia.

Tree Tapped

The functional beverage market has seen many manufacturers leverage natural ingredients, like coconut water, acai berries or guayusa leaves, into new products with healthful benefits—and these ingredients are attracting a strong consumer following.

However, one Concord, Mass.-based company is making waves with a beverage that has been around for 100 years and has just one ingredient: maple sap. DRINKmaple is a naturally hydrating, plant-based beverage with maple sap as its only ingredient. The sap is obtained by sustainably tapping the trunks of American-grown maple trees on USDA-certified organic family-run farms in Vermont.

“The whole drink is created by the tree, the sap comes out from the soil and absorbs minerals from the soil,” says Kate Weiler, co-owner of DRINKmaple. “The sugar is natural and created from the photosynthesis of the tree. We’re taking what comes out of the tree and we’re bottling it. We’re not adding any water, maple syrup or preservatives.”

The company uses a supply chain that allows the water to go from tree to bottle in less than 36 hours. “It’s always the freshest, most nutrient dense product,” says Jeff Rose, co-owner of DRINKmaple. “We use all organic sap from Vermont, and we bottle in upstate New York, so we have a very quick compressed timeline, and some of our product is only 12 hours old when it’s in the finished container.”

Maple water touts more than 46 nutrients, primarily composed of polyphenols, antioxidants, prebiotics, manganese and calcium, says Weiler. “There’s also some cool and unique organic acids, like abscisic acid, which helps insulin homeostasis and malic acid,” she adds. “We’re really spearheading some of our own research right now to expand on what the organic acids and different polyphenol compounds are, and also to talk about the hydration effect of the product.”