Yerba Mate, Coffee Emerge at Expo West 2025

Despite the economic headwinds plaguing the food and beverage industry, Natural Products Expo West was back in full force this year as brands, entrepreneurs and industry members brought energy and innovation to what many regard as “The Superbowl of CPG.”

Though we’ve seen spikes before, at this year’s show, interest around yerba mate seemed to be peaking, starting with leading brand Guayakí. The California-based brand’s slow-rolling evolution was on display as it unveiled a slate of new innovation and revamped packaging designed to accelerate awareness and adoption in mainstream channels.

Guayakí is releasing new flavors across all formats this spring, including Sparkling Cherry Jubilation (80mg caffeine per 12 oz. can), non-carbonated Bravo Mango (150mg caffeine per 15.5 oz. can), and both Summer Peach and Strawberry Hibiscus in 16 oz. glass bottles.

The idea — along with renaming existing flavors as Awakening Orange, Citrus Spark and BerryMint Bliss — is to capture some of the current momentum behind yerba mate by accelerating innovation and bringing more consumers into the space, explained Jennifer Brush, VP of Product Innovation, adding that the new drinks are meant to balance familiarity with intrigue.

While Guayakí’s category dominance remains unquestioned, Canadian yerba mate brand Mateína showed it was eager to make further inroads in the U.S. with the stateside release of its five-SKU line of organic ready-to-drink brews in 12 oz. slim cans, each packing 120mg of natural caffeine.

Those products have now been redesigned; similar to Guayakí, the front-of-pack emphasis on “yerba mate” has been heightened, and each flavor has its own color scheme. New flavors Mango Key Lime and Raspberry Yuzu are also joining the roster.

While those aforementioned brands have built their identity around yerba mate, Daytrip’s approach to the category comes from a different perspective. Having started as a hemp-focused brand with its line of CBD-infused seltzers, the company has since evolved into a broader better-for-you platform that includes CBD gummies, organic prebiotic sodas and, launching this spring, a 16 oz. non-carbonated yerba mate energy tea.

At the show, coffee was another category with a significant amount of line extensions and rebranding efforts, including Super Coffee’s tightened-up product strategy and a first look at the brand’s Protein + line.

Available in 12 oz. PET bottles and in TetraPak 4-packs, the new line is set to launch in Mocha Latte and Vanilla Latte flavors, each with 25 grams of whey protein each; the 12 oz. PET version will move via Polar and Big Geyser, while the 4-packs will start as a national exclusive with CVS.

The strategy aligns with Super Coffee’s reorganized portfolio, in which all products are directed toward a specific retail channel. Having ballooned at one point to 14 flavors, the brand has trimmed down to just 11 SKUs across four formats: 50 oz. multiserve cold brew for grocery, the canned XXXtra Energy for c-stores, Super Espresso for natural and specialty retail, and now Protein for ambient drugstores, convenience and other spaces where it can fight it out with category leaders Core Power and Muscle Milk in the coolers and Premier Protein in the center-store shelf.

Elsewhere, Chameleon Coffee showed off its new skin. The change included a revamped script and logo; the signature chameleon is now more animated and dynamic, appropriately changing colors for different SKUs to contrast against the colored labels. There are also more callouts on the front for caffeine content, organic milk and “balanced energy & focus support,” a tacit acknowledgment that coffee can’t just be “coffee” these days.

But the brand also has ambitious plans for the liquid itself, specifically through flash brew method that’s been embraced in RTD previously by the likes of Verve and Japanese import Boss as an alternative to cold brew. Flash brews will serve as the base for retooled 8 oz. cans, previewed at the show in nitro-infused black coffee, flat white and double-shot (160mg caffeine) varieties. The 10 oz. glass bottles of cold brew will also sport the new labels.