Why Functional Beverages are Changing the Drinks Market

It is easy to see how much people care about staying healthy, eating a balanced diet, and playing sports.

That trend has pushed the beverage market to change and respond to what customers want. Functional beverages keep growing in popularity, with more companies launching new products. So why are functional beverages changing the drinks market?

Why are functional beverages popular?

We hear everywhere how important it is to drink enough water and other fluids to stay hydrated. Yet drinking only water is not a pleasure for some people, and they want something extra, though they don’t always choose sugar-free drinks.

Functional beverages hydrate and often add ingredients such as tea or botanical extracts, coffee, or added vitamins and minerals. Tea and coffee themselves supply little in the way of vitamins, so check the label to see what a drink actually contains.

It’s worth choosing drinks from established brands that are open about their ingredients, sourcing, and sustainability, not just their marketing.

When looking for functional beverages it’s worth trying the products of a functional beverage manufacturer, Finlays, which describes its approach as organic, versatile, and sustainable.

The influence on health and lifestyles

With the growing popularity of functional beverages, it’s natural that some areas of our lives change too. The clearest example is health and lifestyle, along with the industries that serve them.

Consumers who are aware of how added sugar, artificial flavors, and preservatives affect their diets want drinks with less of them, and manufacturers are changing their recipes in response.

Many shoppers also want natural ingredients they see as beneficial, such as plant-based extracts. Brands with a clean label and naturally derived flavors, vitamins, and minerals are gaining ground.

Keep in mind that a “functional” label doesn’t mean a drink has proven health benefits. Watch the caffeine, too: the FDA says about 400 mg of caffeine a day is generally not linked to negative effects in healthy adults, and energy drinks can contain a lot of it.

Environmental protection

Consumers are not only more aware of how to protect their health but also of what they can personally do to help the planet. That’s why many choose functional beverages made from responsibly sourced, natural ingredients.

Many people want to cut down on single-use plastic bottles in favor of reusable bottles. That creates demand for formats they can mix on the go, while commuting, at work, or during their daily activities. Just Add Water solutions, caffeine powder, and tea extracts from Finlays are designed for this purpose.

Tea leaves and coffee beans should be grown and harvested sustainably. Finlays, for example, has tea estates in Kericho, Kenya, where local residents work on the farms. Shoppers can look for similar commitments from other brands.

Sources

• Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine is Too Much?, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• Caffeine, MedlinePlus