Consumers are turning to tea, coffee and energy drinks as they reduce their alcohol intake, Prinova research has shown. The report also suggests that even more drinkers – younger ones in particular – would cut back if a wider range of healthy non-alcoholic beverages were available.
To explore current trends in the beverage space, Prinova, the leading provider of bespoke premixes and blends, surveyed 1277 physically active European consumers.* More than four in ten (42.5 %) said they had reduced their alcohol intake over the past three years, compared to just 15 % who reported drinking more. Consumers aged 25-34 were the most likely to say they were consuming less alcohol.
Among those who had cut down on alcohol, most were turning to healthier beverage options including coffee, tea, still water and juices/smoothies, with preferences varying by age, gender, and location. Consumers over the age of 65 were five times more likely than average to have increased their consumption of dairy beverages, while alcohol-free beer was significantly more popular with older age groups than Gen Z.
Over a third (35 %) of men who had cut down on alcohol were drinking more energy drinks as a result. Energy also emerged as the top wellness benefit sought in healthy beverages, ahead of hydration and post-exercise recovery.
In the cohort who had not reduced their alcohol intake, over half said they would be likely to do so if a wider range of healthy beverages were available. This was particularly true of millennials (64 %).
When asked which ingredients they most looked for in healthy drinks, 65 % of respondents picked vitamins and 48 % chose minerals. Plant protein also scored highly as a desirable beverage ingredient, ahead of both fruit and whey protein. Other purchase drivers for healthy beverages included affordability, natural ingredients, trusted brand, and scientifically proven ingredients.
James Street, Global Marketing Director at Prinova, said: “Consumers are increasingly re-evaluating their relationship with alcohol, whether that means embracing the ‘sober-curious’ trend, or simply moderating their intake. However, our research also suggests that many more would be persuaded do so if they could replace booze with appealing healthy alternatives. Given the scale of this market need, and the increasingly wide range of on-trend functional ingredients available, it’s clear that there are still huge opportunities for innovation in the functional beverage space.”
With the world’s largest inventory of food-grade single vitamins, and as the leading supplier of vitamins B and C, Prinova can help manufacturers create beverages with premium micronutrients. Its other solutions include enduracarb®, a slow-release “double sugar” which is ideal for energy drinks and sports nutrition beverages, and AlphaTeaTM, a 100 % natural solution for functional beverages derived from green tea extract.
For the full results of the research, download the White Paper from: https://tinyurl.com/8u2knyb6
*Online survey of consumers in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.
Premix solutions for holistic “Beauty From Within”
Men or women, Gen Z, Millennials or Baby Boomers, everybody wants to look good, regardless of gender and age. According to a worldwide survey by Euromonitor International, more than half of respondents see beauty primarily in a healthy appearance. And this comes mostly from within. More and more consumers are becoming aware of how important nutrition is for healthy skin, hair, and nails. They understand that a healthy, balanced lifestyle has an effect on their appearance, and so they look for foods, beverages, and nutritional supplements that support holistic beauty. To meet this demand, SternVitamin has developed the new “Beauty From Within” premix line.
Holistic beauty combines wellness, health, and beauty
For many years wellness, health, and beauty were separate categories, but now they are increasingly merging into one another. Holistic beauty has established itself as a long-term trend. Consumers are looking for beauty products that alleviate stress, boost wellbeing, help with sleep issues and thus support a healthy appearance. With SternHolisticBeauty, SternVitamin has developed a unique premix that follows this holistic approach.
This premix for instant drink powders is specially tailored for holistic beauty. Its micronutrients and other functional ingredients support the gut immune system and the microbiota that work through the gut-skin-brain axis to strengthen the skin barrier and improve skin health. The lavender extract it contains helps with relaxation and stress reduction, while its pantothenic acid supports mental performance.
The skin as a calling-card
SternVitamin’s new premix line is centred on solutions for various skin needs. After all, glowing skin is the very essence of a healthy appearance. But unfortunately, the process of skin ageing starts as early as at age 25. External influences like environmental pollution and sunshine, as well as individual factors like stress, lack of sleep, and unbalanced nutrition, further exacerbate the natural ageing of the skin. It is no wonder that dark eye circles, lines, and wrinkles are among the most frequently mentioned skin problems. With combinations of selected vitamins, minerals, and functional ingredients, SternVitamin’s premix solutions support the natural beauty of the skin. A key factor, for example, is optimal moisturisation. This is exactly what SternHydroSkin helps with. The premix for capsules contains vitamins C and D that help maintain the skin barrier and counteract skin dryness. Vitamin B3 has a stimulating effect on ceramide synthesis, which is important for a healthy skin barrier. Moreover, hyaluronic acid and pomegranate extract have positive effects on skin elasticity, hydration and wrinkles.
SternSolarGuard protects against the skin’s worst external enemy – the sun. UVA radiation is a major cause of skin ageing, wrinkling, and roughness. This is due to oxidative stress and the damaging effects of free radicals. The vitamins C and E and trace elements zinc and selenium in the premix protect the skin from UV-induced oxidative stress. Vitamins C and E have also been demonstrated to counteract UV damage and skin ageing. The combination of citrus flavonoids and rosemary extract in the premix can provide additional protection against the sun’s harmful radiation. This premix was designed for capsules, and like SternHydroSkin, it is suitable for products targeting men and women in all age groups.
“Beauty sleep” is not just an expression – the skin regenerates during sleep. SternBeautySleep supports restful sleep and skin renewal. This premix for capsules contains the minerals zinc, magnesium, calcium, and selenium, which boost sleep duration. Beyond that calcium is involved in the skin’s cell cycle. Like zinc, the vitamins C and E in the premix reduce UV-induced skin ageing. Valerian, hops, and passionflower reduce the time it takes to fall asleep and improve sleep duration. SternBeautySleep is ideal for women and men under stress.
For beautiful skin, hair, and nails
The Beauty From Within range is completed by SternGlow and SternBeautyGummy. Both premixes contain micronutrients and functional ingredients that provide for beautiful skin, hair, and nails. SternBeautyGummy is specially intended for the trendy gummy application. All SternVitamin premixes can be incorporated into different applications. SternVitamin tailors each premix to customer order. The micronutrient specialist also develops customised concepts for individual foods and food supplements in close cooperation with the customer.
Rebellious Kids combines great taste with true function. No sugar, no calories, vitamins A, B12, C, D, E, Zinc, plus sea salt for natural electrolytes from the ocean.
Rebellious Beverage Company, the preeminent functional beverage company, launched its first ready-to-drink line of functional beverages, Rebellious Kids, in an 8-ounce bottle with sports cap, made with post-consumer recycled content. Rebellious Kids is an organic, plant-based plus minerals beverage, that delivers key nutritional support children need with no sugar. Rebellious Kids has 40 % of the daily value of vitamins B12, C, and D and 20 % of the daily value of vitamins A and E, plus zinc, and electrolytes.
“Our move into the healthy hydration space for children addresses an unmet need for parents who want refreshing drinks that they can feel good about serving their kids: no sugar, no calories, clean ingredients, that delivers key functional nutrition, and great taste,” said co-founder and CEO Doug DuMars. “We are re-invigorating a category that has basically been forgotten about. Rebellious Kids is a nutritional beverage solution with a holistic approach to foundational wellness supporting our next generation at home, at school, or during their activities.”
Rebellious Kids are available in 8oz bottles with 4 flavours kids love:
- Scrappy Strawberry
- Wild Wild Wildberry
- Outrageous Orange
- Wacky Watermelon
Rebellious Kids and Rebellious Infusions are intent on transforming the trend using a little monk fruit. Research from the CDC1 confirms that children and teens are drinking too much sugar from their beverages, two-thirds drink at least one sugary beverage per day. Since added sugar contributes to weight gain, heart disease, cavities and more, Rebellious can play an important role in overall health.
Available across more than 385 Sprouts Farmers Market stores in 23 states. Sprouts is one of the largest and fastest growing specialty retailers of fresh, natural, and organic food in the United States.
1https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db271.htm
About Rebellious Beverage Company:
Rebellious is a preeminent functional beverage company with nutritional beverages that have no sugar, no calories, no Crap! Segments include Rebellious Kids and Rebellious Infusions. The Infusion line consists of 10 flavours within pure function, pure performance, and caffeine free. Each portable packet has no more than 5 ingredients, contains L-theanine for brain health, and up to 200 mg of antioxidants for immune system support. Rebellious is the brainchild of former PepsiCo and Kraft Foods industry veteran, Doug DuMars, and his co-founder, Joe O’Connor. Sprouts is the first major push into traditional retail. Rebellious has consumers in all 50 states in the US, plus Australia, United Kingdom, Europe, Middle East, and India. Rebellious’ customers include professional sports teams, NCAA and high school athletic departments, and hotels.
More than four in ten consumers have increased their purchases of functional foods, beverages and supplements since the start of the pandemic, a major global survey has found.
Kerry, the makers of clinically proven immune health ingredient Wellmune®, surveyed 13,000 people across 16 countries to provide manufacturers with insights into the impact of COVID-19 on purchasing behaviours.
Forty-four per cent of respondents globally said they had bought more dietary supplements since the outbreak of the pandemic, while 42 % had increased their purchases of functional or fortified foods and beverages.
Respondents were presented with a list of health areas and asked which were reasons for buying healthy lifestyle products. Globally nearly six in ten (58 %) chose immune system support, significantly more than the numbers who picked healthy bones and joints (46 %), digestive health (43 %), heart health (40 %) and improved energy (39 %). Immune health was the top health benefit sought by consumers in each of the 16 countries surveyed.
As many as 39 % of consumers had used an immune health product over the past six months and a further 30 % would consider doing so in future, suggesting a total potential immune health market of 69 %.
John Quilter, Kerry VP of Global Portfolio – ProActive Health, said: “Interest in health and wellness has never been higher and we wanted to give the industry new insights into changing purchasing habits. One of our key findings was the scale of the impact of the pandemic on demand – not just for immune health products, but for functional foods, beverages, and supplements overall. Consumers were adopting increasingly proactive, holistic attitudes to health, wellness and nutrition long before 2020 but the pandemic has massively accelerated this trend.”
The survey also reveals the food and beverage categories where immune health is a particularly powerful purchase driver. One in three (33 %) consumers said they would be interested in purchasing fruit and vegetable juices if they contained ingredients that promoted immune support. Many other categories were also seen as a good fit for immune health benefits, including spoonable yogurt (31 %), dairy-based drinks (28 %) and hot beverages (24 %).
Current beverage labeling regulations appear to fall short of helping parents identify the ingredients, sugar and juice makeup of beverages they purchase for their children, a recent study published in Pediatric Obesity suggests. This has researchers calling for changes to beverage labeling regulations to increase transparency and help consumers choose healthier beverages.
The experimental online study included over 1,600 parents who had healthy children aged 1 to 5 years old. Parents were shown product label information for commonly consumed children’s beverages, including flavoured waters, 100 % fruit juice, and juice drinks and other beverages containing added sugars or non-nutritive (artificial) sweeteners. Some parents were shown only front labels, while some were shown both front and back or side labels which included the Nutrition Facts panel and other information. Study participants then answered questions concerning the sugar and percent juice content of the beverages.
About one-third of participants indicated they were not confident they could identify the added sugar and juice content of beverages. Only about half of study participants (48 percent) said they looked at the Nutrition Facts panel all or most of the time when choosing beverages for their children.
Overall, participants frequently underestimated the percent of juice in 100 % fruit juice. Even though the percent juice was stated on the package front for the 100 % fruit juice product in the study, only 51 percent of parents who were shown only the package front correctly identified the juice percentage. When exposed to additional information on the back and side panels, 37 percent still could not correctly identify the percent juice and 40 percent incorrectly said that 100 % juice contained added sugars.
Conversely, participants frequently overestimated the amount of pure fruit juice in sugar-sweetened juice drinks and beverages. For an added-sugar product that looks similar to 100 % orange juice but contains only 5 percent juice, almost all participants (98 percent) could not accurately state the amount of pure juice just by looking at the front of the label and, on average, estimated that the product contained 45 percent pure fruit juice, 40 percent higher than the actual juice content. Fewer than half of participants who additionally looked at back/side labels could correctly identify the percent juice content and, on average, estimated that the beverage contained 24 percent pure juice. For beverages that are not 100 % fruit juice there is no requirement to identify sweeteners or juice content on the front label.
“The results are striking and this study suggests that labels for 100 % fruit juice and fruit beverages or drinks are not working as intended and for many parents may result in misunderstandings and confusion when trying to choose healthful beverages for their children,” said Gail Rampersaud, registered dietitian nutritionist in the Scientific Research Department of the Florida Department of Citrus. “Consumers need more education coupled with labels that are clearer and easier to understand,” added Rampersaud.
The results suggest that lack of knowledge and clear labeling may lead parents to choose less healthy added-sugar beverages over 100 % juices, such as 100 % orange juice. The researchers suggest that the Food and Drug Administration allow label declarations that will increase transparency concerning juice percentage and sweetener content, particularly on front of package, to help consumers make healthful beverage choices.
What others consider waste, Fooditive considers a primary resource. Its new 100 % natural sweetener is produced from apple and pear leftovers, making it a chemical- and allergen-free sugar substitute. The sweetener came into fruition after founder and food scientist the Jordanian, Moayad Abushokhedim noticed that the multi-billion-dollar industry had been dominated by unhealthy sweeteners and had seldom seen change. Cue Fooditive.
Fooditive’s “mission is to develop food additives that contribute to a healthier body and a healthier environment” (Abushokhedim) with sustainability at its core. In 2019, Fooditive caught Rabobank’s attention and was awarded the Innovation Loan.
“Fooditive contributes to the European food industry by offering healthy alternatives to chemical sweeteners. Additionally, this product helps battle food waste. This fits in with our vision of Banking for Food: Rabobank wants to facilitate and support entrepreneurs in the agricultural and food industries, now and in the future to contribute to a more sustainable way of feeding the world” (Wiel Hopmans, SME account manager at Rabobank Rotterdam).
Fooditive is currently developing a range of other products in food ingredients, the specifics of which will be revealed later this year. The sweetener complies with EU organic standards, which has led to Fooditive being awarded the Skal certification meaning it can also produce an organic sweetener next to its regular one. In 2019, Fooditive have partnered with sustainable third-party production company Bodec. Allowing the zero-calorie sweetener to reach consumers through products in Dutch supermarkets. This year, it will be further distributed to various food and beverage companies across the Netherlands.
Last year, Fooditive began collaborating with Rotterdam Circulair, an organisation that is dedicated to reducing, re-using and recycling waste and whose ultimate goal is to transition from a linear to a circular economy by 2030. Fooditive plays a major role in achieving this target because its sweetener is transforming and challenging the long-standing sugar-substitute industry from a greener, healthier and more sustainable perspective.
It is not just the Netherlands that is interested in Fooditive, Sweden also wants to pear up. In October 2019, €100,065.63 was raised to set up the now registered branch in Stockholm. Future plans include expanding to the UK and Jordan. By starting production in these countries, Fooditive aims to reduce its carbon footprint and contribute to an all-round better future.
