In today’s beverage wars, contenders are spread across the supermarket. They fill the dairy case and the juice aisle, the soft drink section and the beer coolers, and let’s not forget the shelves containing coffee, tea or water selections. While competitors try to market to niche demographic groups, it’s important to also remember that threads of commonality can be found among even the most-diverse groups. Insights can be learned from all.
Heart-wise
“Nowadays, the market for people trying to manage cholesterol does not fall into a neat demographic age bucket,” says Pam Stauffer, marketing programs manager, Cargill Health & Nutrition, Minneapolis. “While high cholesterol continues to be an issue for the aging population, it also strikes even young children who also suffer from obesity.”
Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of beverages’ role in a healthy diet. For example, plant sterols and barley fiber “are clinically shown to reduce LDL cholesterol and are backed by an FDA health claim,” says Stauffer, and can be used to formulate drinks that can be enjoyed by the whole family or targeted to children, teens, parents or grandparents. Plant sterols are currently added to milk, orange juice and rice drinks.
Worldwide, moms are substituting more nutrient-dense offerings for high-caloric choices. Doug Edmonson, director of technology, Sensient Food Colors, St. Louis, finds “the biggest trend coming from Europe is more naturally formulated beverages, using natural colors and flavors, replacing high-fructose corn syrup with other ‘healthy’ sugars, and lowering the calories per serving. The trend for health and wellness appears to be strongest for children, and adults 35 and over.”
Weight control crosses all demographics. “For men and women, this can mean fortifying products with ingredients designed to increase satiety or boost metabolism,” says Donna Hansee, director of marketing, Wild Flavors, Inc., Erlanger, KY. “For children, this means developing products around reduced and healthy sugars, and paying attention to portion size for beverages. All-natural, no-calorie sweeteners like stevia are driving many low-calorie developments targeted to all demographics.” Fiber in beverages enhances satiety while contributing to digestive health.
Soft drinks, long seen as contributors of empty calories, are becoming sources of sustainable energy. This is “due to the combination of an aging population and longer working hours,” says Ram Chaudhari, Ph.D., FACN, CNS, senior executive vice president, chief scientific officer, Fortitech, Schenectady, NY. “Immunity is also becoming a major trend in soft drinks due to the increasing number of people concerned about their overall health. Satiety is, and will continue to be, a very popular trend in next-generation weight-management soft drinks due to the high levels of obesity across the United States, as well as the rest of the world. ‘Good-for-you’ soft drinks are seeing a huge increase in their popularity, with bottled water, RTD tea and coffee and juices set to benefit from this trend.”