Last year, the beverage industry set high expectations for citrus flavors. In particular, lemon was predicted to be one of the Top 3 best-selling flavors in 2014, according to respondents of Beverage Industry’s 2013 New Product Development Survey.

Attending my first IFT Annual Meeting and Tradeshow at Chicago’s McCormick Place on July 12 was quite an interesting and engaging experience.

The pop song “Sugar, Sugar” by The Archies contains the catchy line “Honey, honey, ah, sugar, sugar, you are my candy, girl, and you got me wanting you.” Although they weren’t singing about beverages, “honey, honey” is being used as a “sugar, sugar” substitute by beverage-makers and health-conscious consumers in hot and iced teas, water, and more.

As health and wellness trends continue to rise, more and more consumers are looking for natural options and checking the labels before they buy.

Innova Market Insights, the Netherlands, used its ongoing analysis of key global developments in food and drink launch activity worldwide to identify the Top 10 trends most likely to impact the food and beverage industry in 2015 and beyond.

 The peer-reviewed journal Nutrition published the results of a study that found that students at the U.K.’s Southampton University Medical School who took Wellmune WGP, an immune health ingredient marketed by Biothera, Eagan, Minn., for 90 days reported fewer days of cold and flu symptoms than their placebo-controlled classmates. 

 California Custom Fruits and Flavors is a custom ingredient innovator and supplier that develops products with its customers’ particular requirements and applications in mind, the company says.