LAS VEGAS—In today’s food industry, “functional” and “beverages” are joined at the hip. That was instantly clear as healthy-beverage marketing guru Jeff Hilton launched into his SupplySide West session on the keys to developing and positioning successful health-forward beverages.
He maintained that superfruits are neither fad nor trend. Rather, they comprise an entirely new category of the industry and are here to stay. And one of the key product categories for superfruits is healthy beverages—whether cosmeceutical, energy-oriented, tea-based, or simply formulated and positioned as adding healthy benefits to consumers’ lives. From mangosteen to açaí and sea buckthorn (the latter a rich, rather unique source of omega-7 fatty acids), these antioxidant-rich fruits are here for the long haul.
Hilton noted that consumers seem to have a price insensitivity for functional beverages. They will pay more for the benefits manufacturers and marketers promise via specific beverage brands. And cultivating a solid brand identity via the label, interactive online education (including guerilla techniques) and other marketing avenues is of the utmost importance. Consumers move from awareness to acceptance and on to trying the product, developing a preference and eventually becoming loyal to the brand—if formulators and marketers have done their homework and astutely executed the product.
And although health is at the core of these products, “there won’t be a repeat purchase if the taste isn’t on the money,” Hilton wisely noted.
