It’s already mid-way through October and 2025 will be here before we know it. With the new year coming up fast, Whole Foods Market has released its annual top 10 food and beverage forecast for 2025, including a few big things to watch out for in the beverage category. Here’s some of the highlights.
Hydration Amps Up: Hydration beverages have been a fast-growing space, whether through the diversification of the traditional sports drink category or in other formats like coconut water, powdered mixes and electrolyte-enhanced energy drinks. And Whole Foods believes it’s just warming up.
“Reusable water bottle culture is upon us, but consumers want more from their H2O these days,” the retailer said in its report, calling out brands like Skratch Labs as those benefiting from the demand for customizable enhanced waters. Beyond powders, however, RTDs such as Local Weather and KOR Hydrate, as well as plant-based hydration such as Pricklee, True Nopal, Harmless Harvest and Once Upon a Coconut are all feeling the lift.
Teas a-Brewing: New innovations in tea, from RTDs and bagged varieties to tea as a flavor in foods and desserts, are on the rise. Caffeinated yerba mate and yaupon drinks continue to build momentum with natural channel shoppers, while products such as Twrl Jasmine Pu’erh Milk Tea and Kola Goodies Sri Lankan Milk Tea Latte bring new flavors and textures to ready-to-drink.
It’s also seeing a big boost in ice cream, as Van Leeuwen and Bubbies both offer up some frozen tea-flavored treats in retail.
Eco-Friendly Booze: Alcohol and NA adult beverages are becoming greener, “embracing regenerative practices and lower-impact packaging,” Whole Foods reported. The Sustainable Wine Roundtable is aiming to reduce its bottle weights by 25% by 2026 to lower the carbon footprint, while beers and whiskeys are using more ingredients like “drought-resistant fonio or regeneratively farmed Kernza.”
Brewers like New Belgium, Brooklyn Brewery, Allagash, Firestone Walker and Athletic Brewing are some of those highlighted in the report, alongside wine producers Bonny Doon Vineyard, Harthill Farms and Tablas Creek Vineyard.
What Else?: Outside of beverage, some of Whole Foods highlights for 2025 include crunchier snacks, dumplings, international snack brands, next level compostables and “stepped up” sourdough products.