Over the years, Natural Products Expo West has evolved from a show targeted at a small niche audience to an event that draws fevered interest from across the food and beverage spectrum. That growth echoes the changes in the kombucha category, where in recent years several of the segment’s leading brands have opened the door for the beverage to move out of natural grocery store coolers and into some of the country’s biggest mainstream outlets. With household penetration still relatively low, brands are taking innovative approaches to flavor, marketing, packaging and distribution to help the category realize its commercial potential.
In this video, BevNET’s John Craven and Martin Caballero discuss how some of the major trends in kombucha as seen at Expo West 2018 — including the introduction of smaller package sizes — could impact kombucha’s presence across retail channels and highlight new line extensions aimed at addressing consumers’ shifting dietary needs and preferences.