When it comes to the latest trends, “healthy” and “natural” continue to top the list of consumer needs and interests for beverages, according to respondents of Beverage Industry’s annual New Product Development Survey.
The existence of daily, weekly, monthly and even fashionable pill-organizing containers is enough to prove that taking multiple pills a day has become routine for many consumers.
Performance drink ingredients give athletes an extra boost
October 16, 2013
Similar to how Popeye the Sailor Man consumed spinach to fuel his strength to save the day, many athletes turn to performance beverages to fuel their performance and help put them on the path to victory.
Defining the preferences of boomers, Xers and millennials
August 16, 2013
In The Who’s 1965 rock song “My Generation,” the group sang about how older generations did not seem to understand its generation. Today, beverage research and development (R&D) experts are trying to change this notion by better understanding generational demographics for baby boomers, Generation Xers and millennials (also known as Generation Y) and formulating products that fit their nutritional and lifestyle needs.
In the United States, instant gratification has become commonplace thanks to technologies like smartphones and the Internet, but functional drinks also are making it a staple in the beverage industry.
Although some segments of the beverage industry often are associated with the obesity epidemic in America, more than half of consumers believe they are responsible for their own weight, according to research by The Hartman Group, Bellevue, Wash.
In the ballad “The Sweetest Thing,” the pop rock band U2 sang about how love is the sweetest thing, but when it comes to the beverage market, the sweetest thing also is the biggest thing. Across 13 ingredient categories, sweeteners accounted for 85 percent of the 46.4 million tons of ingredients used in beverages in 2011, according to an April 2013 report by Chicago-based Euromonitor International titled “Beverage Ingredients: Trends and Influences.”
R&D show provides networking, educational opportunities.
May 15, 2013
The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) will host its annual meeting and food expo July 13-16 at McCormick Place South in Chicago. The event invites food science and technology professionals to attend and learn about the newest products, trends, tools and techniques in the ingredient, equipment, processing and packaging sectors as well as the companies behind them. More than 1,000 exhibitors are scheduled to present at this year’s expo.