AUSTIN, Texas — With energy drink sales projected to push the $22 billion range by 2017, drink manufacturers are scrambling for the newest cutting edge formulations to catapult their products into the spotlight, while ingredient makers are equally pressed to create the next superstar formula. What has become clear in this sizzling hot market is that the balance between sound science and consumer demand is still teetering. Most mainstream energy drinks contain synthetic formulations, some with unpronounceable ingredients like sodium hexametaphosphate. Consumers are demanding natural and organic ingredients, non-GMO foods and beverages, and that demand is now driving energy drink formulation, with companies who have been using synthetic ingredients searching for alternatives.
With health concerns about food and beverage ingredients in the mainstream, energy drink consumers are creating a strong demand for alternative energy sources, and plant-based sources that work with the body’s biological endocrine system are a natural target. PurCaf is an organic chemical-free botanical energy solution sourced from green coffee beans. Provided by science-driven functional ingredient maker Applied Food Sciences, PurCaf is made from coffee beans that are 100% certified organic through Eco-Cert and USDA, non-GMO, and is a 92% pure caffeine extract derived from water-extracted green coffee beans, making it ideal for companies looking to manufacture organic energy drinks.
“As the world of functional beverages becomes the norm rather than the exception, consumers are looking for healthful products that are non-synthetic, natural and preservative-free,” says Jim Tonkin, president of Healthy Brand Builders, one of the top beverage marketing experts in the country. “All of the new botanical and functional ingredients that are being incorporated into retail beverages should be required to assert ‘top-quality’ to meet growing consumer demands.”
In general, natural sources of plant based caffeine can have balancing effects to neutralize the negative side effects (jitters and nervousness) typical of synthetic sources because they are combined with other compounds from the plant2,3.
PurCaf formulated at 150mg per serving is equal to the amount of caffeine in a specialty cup of coffee. It is easy to formulate, water soluble and clear in solution, providing it as an optimum choice for beverage formulators.
“PurCaf and all of our green coffee extracts are targeted to be the ‘pioneer’ of natural energy for energy drink formulators looking for alternatives to synthetics,” says Jackson Zapp at Applied Food Sciences. “It’s clear that organics are booming, and energy drinks are here to stay. PurCaf intersects both of these exploding markets. We’re definitely on the cutting edge in purity, sustainability and functionality.”