From carbonated cold-pressed juice and sesamemilk to ice tea infused with hops, new beverage concepts are hitting the market every week. But which emerging trends have real staying power? FoodNavigator-USA headed to BevNET Live Winter 2018 in Santa Monica to find out.
One of 12 emerging brands featuring in this year's New Beverage Showdown at BevNET Live, Hope & Sesame organic sesamemilk is a proprietary blend of sesame protein concentrate and pea protein concentrate with natural flavors; sugar, sunflower oil, vitamins, and minerals, with 8g protein/serving.
The winner of the showdown was HopTea, which is made from carbonated water, tea, and hops, for beer and tea lovers alike. Watch our video with cofounder Dean Eberhardt.
Hubble cold-pressed fizzy juice - the brainchild of former Nestle and Disney marketer Dave Burchianti - combines cold pressed juice treated with HPP, water, and on-trend ingredients such as ginger and turmeric, and gets its bubbles via forced carbonation.
Featuring a chilled sloth as its brand mascot, stevia-sweetened CBD-infused beverage Joybird contains purified water, juice concentrates, erythritol, natural flavors, and a 'CBD emulsion.' While the New Beverage Showdown judges had questions about the legal status of CBD and how the 'joybird' brand name connected to the sloth on the label, they were impressed by the approachable branding.
Split Decision is for tea and coffee lovers, combining cold brew coffee and tea, and was inspired by tea/coffee combinations the founders discovered on travels to Hong Kong and Thailand. The judges loved the product, but felt the packaging design needed work to improve clarity.
JoeFroyo - a blend of cold brew coffee, lactose-free cultured milk, milk protein isolate and whey - impressed the BevNET Live judges, although they were confused by the brand name, with Kelly Criswell, chief creative officer at The GRO Agency, claiming it made her "think of sugary frozen yogurt."
Eslena is an unsweetened organic still water brand infused with on-trend ingredients such as lavender and ginger, and sea salt.
Organic aronia berry juice brand trüronia has potential, but founder Scott Dinkler could make more of the fact that he is an aronia berry farmer, said BevNET Live judge Matt Hughes, VP at Coca-Cola's Venturing and Emerging Brands (VEB) unit. "I feel they could do more with their great backstory."
Berkeley-based Mother Matcha combines coconut milk and matcha - a 'ceremonial' tea grown in Japan that contains all of the tea leaf, which is crushed into a fine powder and added to water (unlike regular tea, which is steeped in hot water such that many of its nutrients stay in the pot or teabag).
Riff cold brew coffee was developed by Paul Evers, co-founder of Crux Fermentation Project; Nate Armbrust, former director of cold brew product development at Stumptown; Steve Barham, former senior director at LinkedIn; and Bobby Evers and Kevin Smyth, both with experience in craft beer branding and operations.
Zest Tea's new ready-to-drink 'energy tea' - which targets millennials - has 150mg caffeine (from green tea extract) and 100mg of l-theanine, which founder James Fayal claimed slowed down the absorption of caffeine (so no jitters).
A blend of water, coconut water, vitamins, minerals, and natural flavors, KidsLuv “is the better-for-you juice alternative that skips the harmful sugars while adding essential vitamins to your kids’ diets,” said founder and CEO Ashi Jelinek (one of three winners of FoodNavigator-USA's 2018 trailblazers challenge).
Floral flavor trends to watch in beverages include hibiscus, marigold, nasturtium, and orange blossom, Emmanuel Laroche at flavors giant Symrise told BevNET Live delegates: "We’re going beyond rose and lavender..."
"It’s a huge misconception that to sell to Walmart that you have to be ready to be ready for mass distribution," said Sarah Alderson, DMM, chilled packaged goods at Walmart. "Incubating innovation is really important to Walmart... Some of our best stores for emerging brands are in the heartland of the country... We’re not trying to devalue your brand equity... we are open to working together."
US retail sales of shelf-stable plant-based beverages grew 13.2% in the year to October 7, while sales of refrigerated plant-based beverages rose 9.8%, said Andrew Henkel at SPINS. Overall, 'naturally-positioned' beverages grew 9.6% over the same period, while 'conventional' beverages grew 1.6%.
Three beverage brands generating triple digit sales growth over the 52 weeks to October 7, 2018, were carbonated water & juice brand Spindrift (+114%), plant-based milk brand Ripple (+161%), and kombucha brand Health Ade (+170%), said Henkel.
The top 25 beverage brands accounted for 40% of dollar growth in the category vs 50.4% a year ago, said Henkel, who said that the category was becoming more fragmented and that the ceiling for beverage brands was getting lower, and we may not see the emergence of huge brands like Coke and Pepsi again.