How drinks are becoming supplements
During a Natural Products Expo West several years ago, a group of New Hope editors and I noticed RTD drinks punched up with ingredients such as ashwagandha, maca root, magnesium, L-theanine, turmeric and more.
We wondered: Did this nascent footsie between beverages and supplements have legs?
Fast forward to this year’s Expo West, and we have an answer. Legs? The relationship has leapt from footsie to tango. Beverage brands lined the aisles, slinging samples of a wide range of good-for-you drinks.
For decades, the function of most of these drinks revolved around energy. Coffee and tea are the OG functional beverages. Electrolyte-pumped Gatorade leapt into the beverage pool in 1965, and addressed athletes—chug this, and your performance and recovery might improve. About 30 years later, in 1996, Vitamin Water made quite a splash when it swan dove into the functional drink waters, with promises of vitamin-enhanced health with every sip.
Innovation happened during the ensuing two decades. Gut-friendly kombucha’s profile rose, for one thing. But most advances on the ready-to-drink front revolved around flavor, rather than function.
Three Spirit botanical NA elixirs
Three Spirit botanical NA elixirs
The pivot toward functional invites NA to the party
Today’s functional beverage sector roams far from the old-school provinces of energy, electrolytes and jolts of Vitamin C. Labels broadcast drinks’ versatility with everything from promoting serenity to fortifying sleep, boosting stamina, mitigating stress and enhancing social lubrication.
A notable movement within the beverage sector has been the emergence of ready-to-drink nonalcoholic elixirs. Up until a few years ago, most NA drinks referred to their boozy cousins: they were IPAs, Chardonnays and mojitos without the hooch. But that positioning has shifted.
Today, many NA brands tout their effects—how sipping the cold can of carbonated liquid might improve moods and spark conviviality. I think functional and NA beverages are merging, providing further momentum for the proliferation of supplement-style beverages.
The numbers tell a compelling story. The global functional beverages market is projected to surge from $204.8 billion in 2022 to $353.4 billion by 2030, reflecting a robust 7.1% compound annual growth rate, according to Grand View Research.
In addition, two of the biggest industry news announcements of the year—PepsiCo’s decision to drop $1.95 billion to buy functional beverage brand Poppi, along with Coca-Cola’s release of its new functional beverage brand Simply Pop—slap exclamation points beside the functional beverage trend. Walmart now even has a “modern soda” set—shelf space set aside for RTD beverages with benefits.
That pre-Covid, Expo-inspired hint at a budding beverage trend hasn’t lost its fizz. About half a decade later, it’s wildly effervescent.
“Today’s consumer isn’t grabbing whatever’s cold,” says Emily Sommariva, chief marketing officer at functional beverage brand LIFEAID. “They’re intentionally shopping, researching, reading labels, counting macros and choosing beverages the same way they choose supplements: with intention and knowledge.”
She added: “Categories once confined to pills and powders have gone RTD, and fast. We’ve always believed your drink should do something. Recovery, focus, immunity—whatever the benefit, we formulate backwards from real need states and use clinically backed ingredients to get there.”
FITAID, from LIFEAID
FITAID, from LIFEAID
Regulatory challenges loom
But as the category froths, it invites complexity. Industry veteran Larisa Pavlick, regulatory program manager for Informa Health and Nutrition (New Hope Network’s parent company), says, “The line between beverage and supplement is blurry, and regulatory guidance hasn’t caught up with the innovation. The final Guidance was issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2014.”
Botanicals such as ashwagandha, rhodiola and reishi, all increasingly common in drinks, are typically regulated as dietary ingredients for use in supplements by the FDA through the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). The law sets guidelines regarding labeling, claims and safety.
But DSHEA does not cover food products. So when these wellness ingredients get added to food, quality oversight diminishes. In addition, many of the botanical ingredients in the new wave of wellness beverages lack GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) or approved food additive status for food use.
“Most of these ingredients were designed for capsules or dry delivery forms,” Pavlick says. “Put them in a bubbly beverage, and you could change the chemistry entirely. To my knowledge, traditional use and remedies were not carbonated beverages and this should be considered.”
The lack of understanding about what happens to many botanical ingredients when they get added to beverages potentially impacts everything from efficacy to shelf life, Pavlick says.
Innovation meets drinks today
Regardless, the functional beverage sector’s regulatory liminal zone hasn’t stunted its trajectory. Brands continue investing. The company Karma Water, which has been crafting functional beverages for more than a dozen years, invested in a cap technology that chief executive officer CJ Rapp says preserves the quality of the botanicals added to the company’s line of beverages.
The brand also adds a branded supplement ingredient, Cognizin, to some of its beverages. Cognizin is a branded, patented form of citicoline, which targets brain health, cognitive function and mental clarity.
“Just like consumers demand cleaner ingredients, the need for science-based formulations is here to stay,” says Rapp. “Karma’s R&D is exploring a level beyond supplements and into the world of therapeutics. We are excited about the future.”
What’s next? I anticipate more investments in the places where supplement science and beverage delivery intersect. Buzzy industry topics like personalization, precision dosing and validation will enter the beverage space.
And another term—efficacious—might get trumpeted on labels as much as attributes like organic and sugar-free did not that long ago.
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