The beverage industry is continually shaped by powerful forces that dictate consumer preferences and market trajectories. Understanding these long-lasting 'mega trends' and their shorter-term 'macro trends' is crucial for sustained innovation.
At Treatt, we make it our business to anticipate, understand and react to these trends. Our insights team works closely with our innovation and applications teams to ensure we remain relevant in this dynamic market, using this knowledge to shape our own product development and help our customers differentiate themselves in a rapidly changing environment.
This article examines five pivotal macro trends influencing the future of the beverage industry, exploring how, for a provider like Treatt, connecting these dots is essential for staying ahead.
Personalized health, driven by big data
In an increasingly hyper-connected world, consumers are gaining unprecedented access to their own biological data. Wearables, health-tracking applications, microbiome kits and at-home DNA tests are transforming health from something reactive and generalized into something proactive and personalized.
Health and wellness remains the leading consumer mega trend, consistently ranked #1 since 2020. Data is no longer confined to tech giants; it has become a personal wellness toolkit, empowering individuals to take a more focused approach to their wellbeing and understand their bodies in new ways.
This has given rise to the microtrend of guided health, where consumers actively pursue an advanced understanding of how nutrients impact their bodies, often supported by technology (apps like Zoe) and data analytics. This has led to an increase in demand for product personalization, such as personalized vitamins delivered to your door or functional beverages designed to meet individual physiological needs.
What does this mean for Treatt?
This trend presents a clear mandate for ‘performance you can feel’. Treatt focuses on creating benefit-led demos that clearly articulate how ingredients deliver tangible performance improvements. It also means fostering early partnerships with brands to co-create targeted, scientifically credible and personalized solutions, and innovating with formats like premium, clean-label extracts for powders and shots.
Innovation: nurturing mind and body through science
Technological and scientific innovation is expanding our understanding of the interplay between mood, stress, cognition and biology. The rising global awareness of mental health, coupled with sophisticated ingredient science, is fueling a surge in demand for products that support how we feel, not just how we look.
Innovation in the beverage sector is enabling more targeted, age-appropriate solutions that feel empowering and preventative, rather than purely medicinal. This comes back to the health and wellness mega trend, where innovation across biotech and food tech is extending lifespans, redesigning healthcare and reshaping daily life.
A critical microtrend emerging from this is mood maintenance, where consumers look for beverages that meet their evolving health needs, whether that be mood support in early adulthood, hormonal balance in midlife or joint and muscle support in later years.
What does this mean for Treatt?
The focus is on developing life-stage and format-driven solutions, offering tailored blends for specific needs, such as hormonal balance, cognitive support or anti-inflammatory benefits. It also calls for innovative, convenient formats that align with on-the-go wellness, such as convenient sachets, gels and functional shots that deliver concentrated benefits.
Regulation: health and taste without compromise
Global regulatory pressures like sugar taxes, HFSS (high fat, sugar and salt) restrictions and evolving front-of-pack labeling requirements are driving a new wave of reformulation. However, it isn't just about compliance: consumers are scrutinizing labels more and actively choosing lower-calorie, lower-sugar options that align with their lifestyle goals.
Regulation is intrinsically linked to the health and wellness mega trend. While regulation drives reformulation, consumers will not compromise on health benefits and taste. A significant microtrend impacting this area of growth is body composition management. The rapid growth in the use of GLP-1 drugs for weight management will explode in the next few years as consumers are increasingly aware of the complexities of body composition, metabolic health and muscle loss, seeking products that actively address these concerns.
What does this mean for Treatt?
Treatt's expertise becomes vital in achieving ‘no-compromise sugar reduction’. Our solutions deliver on taste and mouthfeel, opening opportunities for GLP-1 friendly demos that showcase low-sugar, satiety-supporting and clean-label options. With the rise of smaller, concentrated formats (150-250ml shots), Treatt must deliver indulgent flavor impact in more compact formats.
Supply chain: recreating value in a changing world
Climate disruptions, ingredient shortages and surging commodity prices are no longer short-term, isolated incidents; they represent a fundamental structural upheaval in global supply chains. This volatility is reshaping the natural ingredients landscape. The trust in "forever available" ingredients is fading, replaced by a deeper appreciation for origin, seasonality and sustainability.
Environmental and economic instability is forcing consumers and brands to reframe product alternatives, where the definition of luxury is no longer about rarity, but responsibility, traceability and sustainable sourcing, which now carry premium appeal.
The microtrend of resource scarcity highlights a growing expectation for food and beverage products to have a lighter environmental footprint through practices like using upcycled ingredients, local sourcing, reduced water usage or clean-label simplicity.
What does this mean for Treatt?
This context demands sustainable flavor innovation, empowering the next wave of clean, responsible formulations. Treatt can create next-gen ingredients, building flavor systems from upcycled fruit streams, maximizing resource efficiency and delivering bold, functional flavor through minimalist, clean-label simplicity. Treatt can also support fragrance and flavor (F&F) brands in meeting ambitious EU Green Deal goals with compliant ingredients.
Geopolitics: the localism imperative
Ongoing geopolitical tensions, trade disruptions, unpredictable climate events and inflation continue to erode consumer confidence. As uncertainty increases, people instinctively seek stability, often found in the familiar, local and close-to-home.
This sentiment manifests as a microtrend towards affordable and certain choices, where localism is more than just patriotism. It embodies transparency, control and trust, as consumers perceive local ingredients and brands to be more reliable, sustainable and better aligned with their values. There is also a resurgence of interest in "grandma's remedies" and heritage ingredients (such as elderflower, mint or chamomile), reimagined in modern wellness drinks. Direct-to-consumer brands with local supply chains are building strong consumer trust by being transparent about where and how their ingredients are sourced.
What does this mean for Treatt?
Treatt can partner with innovators, supporting regional and over-the-counter brands exploring limited editions and local tastes. This involves developing provenance-led demos, offering ingredients and flavor concepts that evoke a strong sense of origin, be it Brazilian Citrus, British Orchard or a Tropical Belt profile, to connect with consumers' desire for authenticity and regional identity.
Navigating the future of the beverage industry
The future of the beverage industry is heavily influenced by these macro trends that demand agility and a deep understanding of evolving consumer values. By integrating big data, innovation, regulation, supply chain shifts and geopolitical realities, Treatt maintains its relevance and provides essential, future-proof ingredient solutions. Strategic foresight positions us as a vital partner in ensuring sustained growth and shaping the next generation of beverages.
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