No longer a notion, the ability of a beverage to provide something beyond refreshment has evolved into a highly profitable source of sales. While functionality is not the only ongoing storyline in the beverage industry, for many marketers, it is the most compelling.
But the notion of functionality carries heavy expectation; as the functional beverage becomes pervasive, the efficacy question is going to be asked more often, and the answer is going to have to come from the beverage itself as much as it does from any set of marketing materials.
And if the beverage is providing the answer, the quality of that answer is going to be dependent on the quality of the ingredients it relies on to provide its specific functionality. And those ingredients are increasingly – although not exclusively – coming from one of two camps: One set of beverages employs a set of vitamins, minerals, botanicals, proteins, amino acids, enzymes, and other carefully chosen and combined ingredients to fulfill a specific purpose. The other relies on a combination of juices or purees to provide those same ingredients in a more pristine state.
Beverage developers, marketers, and retailers who want to operate in the functional arena are going to have to decide how they want to achieve efficacy. In this issue, BevNET Innovation sought out leaders from both the Super Fruit and Super Ingredient schools to state the case for their own version of functionality.
Super Ingredients Are the Way to Go
By James Rouse, mix1
In order to provide consumers with multiple nutritional benefits in one single serving, the future of the functional beverage category must lie in the realm of beverages fortified by “super ingredients.” They are the key to providing the combination of quality, high levels of function, and they act in a synergistic manner to create a set of all-natural ingredients that can deliver against a consumer’s nutritional needs.
At our company, we know that functional beverages — drinks that offer added health and wellness benefits — have enjoyed exponential growth during the last few years and the category continues to increase, with expected sales to reach $54 billion in 2010. With more brands continuing to saturate this market, people are asking, “What benefits am I receiving by putting this into my body? What does one serving of this offer me? What’s my return on investment?” It’s this nutritional ROI that Super Ingredient based functional beverages are best able to provide.
The future of functional beverages lies in understanding what consumers are missing in their daily diets and formulating products that deliver against those needs. The time of day when a consumer intends to supplement his or her diet is an important part of the equation – such as mealtime, snack time, before or after exercise, or during a mental break. Consumers are busier than ever and planning for balanced nutrition throughout the day seems to be impossible for most. The majority of us wake up everyday with the intention of eating healthy, but we usually fall short. Instead, most people grab convenient options on the run under the impression they’re making a better choice. Unfortunately, many choices fall short on expectations.
What people are missing in their daily diets doesn’t come as much surprise: balanced nutrition based on the food group basics we’ve all been taught. We all need protein, antioxidants from fruits and vegetables, carbohydrates for energy, a good source of fiber, healthy fats and the right balance of vitamins and minerals. Ideally, we should get these benefits together in proper serving size portions throughout the day, as our bodies operate optimally when we consume balanced nutrients.
A big portion of the functional beverage market is targeted towards “Superfruits” and the benefit of antioxidants. I’m a big fan of antioxidants and the benefits that extensive research suggests they provide, and agree they should be part of any functional beverage.
However, when looking at antioxidant benefits, some juice brands – even Superfruits – will provide antioxidants equivalent to only one serving of fruits and veggies while many provide much less. Unfortunately, even at these low levels of antioxidant benefits, you also get an unbalanced source of carbohydrates or sugars that could spike your blood sugar unless you complement it with something to help balance the sugar release, like protein and/or fiber. And interestingly enough, most of the Super Fruit beverage brands tout how powerful their respective fruit is compared to their competitors, while very few discuss the actual benefits of only one serving to a consumer.