Soft Drinks Trends: Trends for Soft Drinks in the Beverage Industry until 2023
The soft drink industry will undergo a change in 2023. This year’s focus is on functional ingredients, sustainability, and price sensitivity in addition to the wonderful flavors that these beverages offer. These components are incorporating themselves into the Soft Drink Trends for 2023, providing ideas for new product creation.
The Evolution of the Consumer in a Changing World
Global occurrences like energy crises, inflation, and climate change have altered consumer priorities. The current top trends in the beverage sector, including those for non-alcoholic beverages, are being influenced by these similar variables. We’ve simplified what people are reaching for when they grab for their glasses this year using data from international market research.
The Mintel Director of Food & Drink, Alex Beckett, has developed a novel method for examining beverage market trends until 2023. He has examined these phenomena in light of both inflation and climate change. Understanding consumer expectations for food and drink in these times of economic and environmental hardship is the goal, along with maximizing production and enjoyment.
Businesses must now focus on making sure that they satisfy consumers’ nutritional needs even when they are operating on a restricted budget. Trends in soft drinks are influenced by a balance between affordability and nutritional value. The vitamins, minerals, and other necessary components that make up this richness are present.
The Development of Active Nutrition
Modern soft drinks ought to be more than just tasty and affordable. Additionally, they ought to be considered “functional drinks.” These beverages ought to provide extra advantages, including vitamins or minerals that support an active and healthy lifestyle when incorporated into a healthy diet.
The COVID-19 pandemic increased consumer interest in immune system-boosting goods. This tendency favors extremely individualized consumption. Products will be improved in the future to cater to certain needs. Soft beverages that offer certain benefits are replacing the one-size-fits-all strategy. Consider beverages that promote mental and physical wellbeing, support the microbiota and digestive health, and accommodate varying flavor and texture preferences. Here, the emphasis is on issues like children’s soft drinks, women’s health, eye health, and concentration for gamers, among other things.
Giving the consumer more control
People are increasingly prioritizing their wants and well-being in the post-pandemic society. Self-care has gone from being a luxury to becoming a necessity as a result of significant world events and ongoing uncertainties. Self-care is becoming a widely accepted idea, and food and beverage companies must adjust as a result. A survey found that 54% of Generation Z consumers in the US believe that self-care, including relaxation, is more important now than it was before the pandemic. Numerous beverage companies have taken notice of this change and introduced soft drinks fortified with useful compounds, such ginseng or L-theanine, to meet these changing consumer demands.
Soft drinks that promote active nutrition should be reasonably priced and make it obvious how they support a person’s goals, whether they be for work, play, or athletic endeavors. Consumers won’t be driven only by low pricing in 2023. They will also value reasonably priced foods and drinks that guarantee simplicity, superior nutritional value, and adaptability. With substances like B vitamins, magnesium, zinc, nootropics, caffeine, and diverse botanicals like fruits and vegetables, this includes advantages connected to attention, stress management, and relaxation.
In this regard, tea-based beverages are also gaining popularity and are anticipated to be among the most popular soft drink trends by 2023. Following are a few product ideas that follow the Active Nutrition Trend:
- Alternative, sugar-free energy beverages
- Beverages with added BCAA and EAA
- Juice shots that are useful
Tea-based beverages - Beverages with added caffeine
- Beverages high in protein
- Options for near-water and essential liquids
- Beverages with fewer calories
Athletes, vegetarians, and vegans are becoming more and more enamored with beverages enhanced with functional ingredients, especially plant-based protein drinks. Consumers who care about their health will find these products satisfying. Specialized beverages that promote healthy digestive enzymes and cognitive function are also anticipated to have an impact on 2023’s soft drink trends.
Proteins Become the Stars
An important development in the Soft Drink Trends for 2023 is the noticeable emergence of high-quality proteins in soft drinks. Why? A crucial nutrient for the body is protein. Those who eat a vegetarian or vegan diet need high-quality plant-based proteins for a balanced diet as worldwide meat consumption drops. This trend is being furthered by the use of only plant-based proteins in a wide range of beverage categories.
Future soft drink ingredient lists will increasingly include plant-based ingredients including oats, different herbs, coconut water, birch water, and milk alternatives, as well as superfoods like turmeric, beet, rosehip, and haskap berry.
Meeting the protein trend:
In order to help you build your product, JUICE offers a wide choice of product concepts and essential ingredients, such as:
- Collagen- and fiber-containing beverages
- Water-based beverages
- Vegetarian protein beverages
Haskap berry-flavored beverages and carrot mix liquids
Savouring the Journey: Gastronomic Explorations
People want experiences that represent their individuality in this era of personalisation. This “thirst for experience” permeates both the food and beverage industries, having a significant impact on the Soft Drink Trends of 2023. The recent travel bans and lockdowns have only increased people’s hunger for new experiences. However, because of the economy, many people are looking for moments of pleasure at home, such as rituals that combine delight and experience.
Consumers in Germany, who make up more than half of the market, actively seek out new flavors, fueling the popularity of hybrid drinks. Consumers in the United States frequently express a need for indulgence, whether it be in the form of chocolate or ice cream goods. While the vast majority of UK customers value candies that bring back childhood memories.
Soft drink trends are shaped by fusion cuisine.
The growth of soft drinks influenced by fusion cuisine is one trend in the Soft Drink Trends for 2023 that will have a significant impact. It’s all about fusing diverse flavors to produce fresh, original taste experiences. This is referred to as the “culinary globalization of our everyday lives” by Hanni Rützler in her Food Report 2023. Previously the purview of top chefs, the movement is characterized by experimenting with a broad range of ingredients and preparation techniques. Through creative new recipes, this movement, which is defined by cheerful experimentation, is quickly taking up on social media platforms. The new normal is fusion.
Asian, South American, Oriental, and local cuisines are merging, leading to new culinary innovations that transcend simple classification.
A World of Difference in Textures
According to the Soft Drink Trends for 2023, there will be an increase in goods made to complement or enhance particular hobbies, including relaxing or enjoying sports or games. Additionally, well-known product categories are being reimagined using cutting-edge ingredients and nostalgic tastes to provide coziness and innovation.
In search of novel sensory experiences, consumers are ready to play around with color and texture in new products, such as nitrogen-infused coffee.
Soft drinks are also changing to appeal to various age groups, taking ingredients, appearance, and texture into account. There are now soft drinks made specifically for kids and elders to meet their distinct demands.
groups. The inventiveness of bloggers and influencers is what’s driving the return of do-it-yourself (DIY) items. The Soft Drink Trends for 2023 clearly show this tendency, with both conventional and cutting-edge homemade or homemade-style items gaining popularity.
An Elevated Experience in Pairing & Fusion
Additionally, soft drinks are embracing matching and fusion, combining beverages with dishes that are ideally paired to produce a symphony of sensations. Premium tea concoctions and mocktails provide new opportunities to pair great dishes with non-alcoholic beverages. There is a reason why at-home cocktail kits are becoming more and more popular, along with mixology’s resurgence.
Consumption that is mindful and sustainable
People are becoming more aware of their choices in an era of plentiful information. Priorities have changed as a result of an increased emphasis on environmental and self-related issues. Nowadays, ethical production, sustainability, and transparency are more important than the place of origin of the ingredients.
Supply chains that are shorter, local and seasonal foods, less plastic, and environmentally friendly farming practices are becoming more popular. Whether it be in terms of procedures or through programs like the Nutriscore label, transparency is essential.
Holistic strategies for environmentally friendly soft drinks
Initiatives and concepts that promote social and ecological responsibility are known as holistic. Brands that give back more than they take and go above and beyond carbon neutrality are more appealing to consumers. Products that are seasonal and local and need little transportation help to neutralize or even worsen climate change. Respectful water use is an increasing concern as well, with the UN predicting a 40% decline in global water resources by 2030.
The Soft Drink Trends for 2023, a conclusion
In conclusion, personal well-being, mindful consumption, naturalness, transparency, and sustainability will determine 2023’s soft drink trends. The variety of tastes and experiences serve as a counterpoint to these patterns. The epidemic, the global energy and ecological challenges, and inflation have increased demand for health and immunity-boosting products. affordability is still a key consideration. Soft drinks should be affordable and support a healthy lifestyle by excluding some ingredients and replacing them with vitamins or minerals.
The focus is on ethical behavior, simplicity, sustainability, and natural, plant-based components. Innovative food matching concepts and unconventional flavor combinations developed from fusion cuisine are becoming more popular, giving producers the chance to be imaginative and daring.
Consumers are ready to discover these fascinating trends and embrace the constantly evolving soft drink industry as the beverage business continues to change.