Recipe for Recovery: Ingredient and Flavor Trends for 2020

Hurtling from one traumatic year straight into another one rife with its own uncertainty, there’s one thing we’re all sure to need in 2021: something that tastes good.

Boldly predicting the latest trends and innovations in beverage is difficult in a normal year, but after a once-in-a-century global pandemic, it certainly isn’t any easier. COVID-19’s devastating effects on public health and the economy are still being felt, which itself is sparking changes in how people think about, shop for and ultimately consume beverages. Some of those shifts may seem obvious: people want to avoid getting sick, so they buy more drinks with immunity claims. But a closer examination reveals a more nuanced picture of how increased anxiety and stress from the pandemic has influenced consumer decisions around beverage and pushed them to seek out physical, mental and emotional benefits from different and sometimes unfamiliar sources.

For our annual look at the flavor and ingredient trends that will shape the year ahead, BevNET spoke with suppliers, brands and industry experts to glean insights on the future of beverage innovation.

Health, Wellness and Room for Indulgence

If there’s a single truth running across all beverage categories, it’s that consumers are looking to get more out of each sip of their favorite drinks. And as those consumers begin to look for different types of functional benefits, brands are eager to provide them with options, whether in the form of a whole line or through value added SKUs.

Flavorman listed functionality as one of its 2021 ingredient trend predictions, noting how the pandemic sparked a sharp rise in interest in immunity boosting products, specifically natural ones. “Expect fragrant flavors like hibiscus, elderflower, and orange blossom to be combined with other berry, botanical, and citrus elements to emphasize functional ingredient blends in naturally positioned teas, enhanced waters, flavored kombucha, and more,” the company wrote.

Doug Resh, Director of Commercial Marketing at ingredient manufacturer T. Hasegawa, agreed that beverages offering immune system support will continue to be in-demand through 2021 as consumers seek out preventative treatments for future illnesses and ailments. He said he expects more beverages to make explicit front-of-pack immune support claims this year, which will likely be differentiated in which ingredients they feature, thus adding another element that needs to be properly communicated. The key for brands is “not just to add loads of vitamins but to explain to consumers the intended function of the beverages,” Resh said.

If brands can do that, there would appear to be ample opportunity to pioneer new functional categories beyond immunity. With consumers spending more time in front of screens than ever before, Resh noted that products that contain ingredients that promote eye health — including vitamin A, vitamin E, zinc, omega-3 fatty acids and lutein — can be positioned as a way to mitigate the effects of too much screen time. Sticking with the theme of resting eyes, according to research platform Spoonshot, U.S. consumers’ level of concern about the quality and quantity of their sleep has increased 40% over the last year and is projected to go up by 12% in the coming year.

“Ingredients that can offer solutions to help consumers get a good night’s rest are going to see some traction in the coming year,” said Kishan Vasani, co-founder of Spoonshot, citing options such as tart cherry (rich in melatonin), dairy (tryptophan) and kiwi (serotonin). “Since beverages tend to be an easy medium for these ingredients, expect to see sleep or anti-energy drinks capturing consumer interest. These are not meant for people with medical conditions or chronic sleep disorders, just for those who could use some help relaxing before bedtime.”

Despite their timely appeal, however, immunity benefits aren’t the only thing consumers seek. The increase in stress and anxiety is also helping push them towards nostalgic and indulgent flavors from their childhood: according to Spoonshot, interest in flavors categorized as such increased by 13%. Had the pandemic not occurred, the data showed that interest would have instead declined 6%.

As such, a growing number of adult beverages are taking their cues from products like children’s juices, breakfast cereals and sweet treats. Vasani said that he sees that trend coinciding with drinkers taking a “more moderate look at [sugar] consumption” and finding a place within their diets for indulgent drinks with more emotional than nutritional rewards, rather than completely excluding them. With that in mind, expect to see a rise in flavors like cookie dough and peanut butter, he added.

T. Hasegawa also noted in its 2021 flavor trends report that sports nutrition beverage consumers appear to be driving the shift by embracing dessert-inspired flavors like brownie, birthday cake, s’mores and others. Elsewhere, writing in Flavorman’s trend report, Kristen Wemer, Flavorman’s Director of Beverage Development, wrote that 2021 will see the return of “classic flavors but in unexpected, more sophisticated forms.”

“When you think about childhood flavors re-imagined for premium applications, you get something like a smokey vanilla cold brew, bubble gum seltzer, or a fruit punch gin cocktail,” Wemer said. “We’re experiencing a renaissance of these nostalgic flavors— peanut butter, orange creamsicle, grape cotton candy— in concepts like hard coffee, energy drinks, and craft soda.”

Cannabis/CBD

Within the realm of ingredient technology and processing, the maturing consumer market is presenting new opportunities for suppliers in the cannabis (THC or CBD) space. Like many other cannabis ingredient processors, Industrial Sonomechanics is focused on nanoencapsulation and nanoemulsion to create highly bioavailable, fast-absorbing water-soluble cannabis extracts. According to the company’s executive vice president and COO Jeffrey Meyer, advances in production of water-compatible CBD and THC formulations now allow beverage manufacturers more freedom to develop drinks that serve specific use occasions and desired benefits, thus allowing brands to build out their product portfolios with a range of SKUs.

“Now, consumers can dictate what they want out of their product and expect companies with the right equipment and formulations can create high-quality products that enable predictable onset times with predictable strength of effects,” he said.

Improvements in the speed and potency of delivery of CBD or other cannabinoids into the body can also help enhance how they interact with each other, said Christopher Shade, Ph.D., the founder and CEO of Quicksilver Science. The company has teamed with Truss USA, a joint venture between Molson Coors and Canadian supplier HEXO Cannabis, to use its nanoemulsion technology in Veryvell, a new line of non-alcoholic CBD beverages that launched exclusively in Colorado in January.

“Another major trend we’ll see in addition to a nanoemulsion cannabinoid delivery method is the use of functional ingredients to create an entourage effect,” Shade said. “Manufacturers have the opportunity to enhance and expand the benefits of their beverages beyond the effects of cannabis alone by combining different herbal or nutraceutical compounds and terpenes, or terpene blends,” which will help create a deeper flavor palette and allow for different kinds of THC or CBD beverages for different occasions.

Sticking with flavor, Meyer noted that he sees two distinct trends developing: one segment of consumers want to taste the unique terpenes and flavonoids from the cannabis plant (drinkers “want to identify with what they are consuming,” he noted), and another segment wants to taste anything but that. Rather than something to be wary of, Industrial Sonomechanics President and chief scientific officer Alexey Peshkovsky said it was an indication of growth.

“The industry is learning that not everyone’s tastes are monolith in the CBD/THC beverage space,” he said. “If there’s a market for a certain flavor profile or taste, the industry will adapt. Given the tools and product options, the branders, the designers and the marketers will be there, ready to fill that need.”

Yet as ubiquitous as it may seem at the moment, it’s easy to forget that we are still in the early days of infused beverages: THC and CBD are just two of the dozens of cannabinoids that exist in cannabis, the vast majority of which haven’t yet been named or fully explored in commercial applications. But the strength of the trend is too significant to ignore: according to market research group Euromonitor, the U.S. market for adult-use cannabis, including in beverages and edibles, is set to reach $53.6 billion by 2025. As acceptance of this segment continues, those other cannabinoids may present future growth opportunities, said Ian Monat, CEO and co-founder of Rhythm CBD Seltzers.

“Awareness of minor cannabinoids like CBG and CBD is still low, and the price of the ingredient is still relatively high,” he said. “But 2021 could be the year we start to see them come into focus and be added to existing CBD beverage formulas, or maybe even get their own SKU.”