Trending drink type – Premium juices
Premium juices have been pushed into the spotlight thanks to health-related drink trends.
Demand is being driven by the sober curious movement and growing interest in functional and fortified creations. Collaborations with celebrities and culinary brands, and the range of formats for premium juices are helping the segment too.
The juice category now spans from breakfast juices through to cocktail mixers, catering to a diverse crowd of consumers. This means innovation is on the up – think functional shots, ‘clean’ formulations and trendy flavours.
Tropical flavours are a mainstay of the segment, growing from familiar favourites like pineapple, passionfruit, coconut and mango to newer or more unusual flavours like dragon fruit, lychee or guava. Juice flavours like these offer escapism and indulgence to drinkers, like Cacto’s prickly pear juice in Strawberry & Watermelon flavour, or Re.juve’s 100% organic Beat Guava and Green Guava cold pressed juices.
Functional juices are fast-growing in the segment too, as drink brands develop creative and innovative fortified, premium drinks that promise to boost brain function, immunity, gut health and more. Coldpress’ Mandarin Orange Juice has added B, D and E vitamins, for example, while GoPuff x Pure Green’s refreshers are formulated with fruits, nootropics and adaptogens, and REBBL’s juices use aquamin calcified sea algae. Juice shots are offering some of the same benefits but can also be positioned as either party starters or cures for the morning after. Ocean Spray’s cocktail juices offer lower sugar than traditional mixers, while PrePear’s 100% Korean pear juice pouch is promoted as a hangover aid. Functional shots, meanwhile, offer a combination of functional juices and juice shots – concentrating a range of ingredients and supplements as a cleaner alternative to sugary energy drinks or gummies. Goldthread promises ‘Instant Chill’, the name of its juice, made using a proprietary kava kava based blend to ease stress and promote relaxation, for example.
Latest launches – QSR creations, watermelon flavours & bright colours
Quick serve restaurants (QSRs) have upped the ante with seasonal flavours this summer, with watermelon one of the top trending flavours.
In the US, Jamba has introduced two watermelon smoothies, including a spicy Watermelon Tajin smoothie, a Kiwi Watermelon refresher is one of Dunkin’s three latest launches, and Auntie Anne’s has three watermelon lemonades on offer. Burger King also has new lemonades available across Canada, in Pineapple and Cherry Limeade flavours.
Classic fruit flavours feature alongside dairy treats in launches from Sonic and Caribou Coffee. The drive-thru’s Orange Cloudsicle Slush Float is topped off with soft serve, while the coffee shop’s fruit shakers blend real fruit, fruit juices and coconut milk. Caribou Coffee’s new launches also include customisable energy drinks.
Nektar Juice Bar has chosen an international fruit for its new drinks, partnering with Pitaya Food (pitaya is the traditional, central American name for dragon fruit) to create a Pitaya Passion Smoothie and Pitaya Frozen Lemonade.
In Japan, making the most of produce is key to new launches. McDonald’s has a Peach Smoothie using both white and yellow varieties of the stoned fruit, as well as a Peach Frappe, while Starbucks’ banana brulee Frappuccino uses ‘ugly’ bananas that would have otherwise gone to waste.
Back in the US, Starbucks has a new family of bold blue, fruity refreshers on sale, each featuring raspberry-flavoured pearls. Pepsi also has a new bright blue hued creation available in the UK. Pepsi Electric is a zesty citrus flavoured cola that should grab attention with its vibrant colour.
Tanqueray’s new Paradiso will also turn heads with its bright colour, reflecting its flavours of guava and hints of lemongrass combined with London Dry Gin, but as a a lower-ABV ‘spirit drink’.
Trending flavour – Tamarind
It’s sweet, sour, tropical, and medicinal too – so it’s no wonder tamarind is so well loved.
And now McCormick, the flavour house, has announced tamarind as the flavour of 2024, interest in the fruit has been reignited. Its sweet and sour flavour, gleaned from the fruit’s pods and pulp, is unique. The pods create a tangy juice while the pulp can be reduced into concentrates or infused into syrups and its flavour pairs well with fruits, florals, herbs and spices alike – including chilli, black pepper, pineapple, lychee, lime, strawberry and elderflower – making it a versatile ingredient.
Tamarind is already used across slushies, sodas, spirits and cocktails. As a syrup it adds depth to sodas or lemonades. And as a juice it offers a new twist on cocktail sours, like the traditional whiskey sour, while as it garnish it makes extra spicy Margaritas. Tamarind Margaritas, with the fruit either in or atop the cocktail, have been trending since summer 2023, in fact. Another trending Mexican drink, the Mangonada, showcases tamarind too – the cocktail combines mango, lime, chilli and tamarind for a floral but fiery flavour.
Flavoured spirits are also using the tropical flavour, in flavoured tequilas and Smirnoff’s new Spicy Tamarind flavoured vodka – tamarind whiskeys, rums and gins might not be far behind.
Finally, tamarind’s sour side suits coffee’s range of rich, sweet and bitter notes. In Thailand, coffee bars have coffees garnished with tamarind and chilli salt, or iced coffees with shots of tamarind juice, for example.
New launch – Nestle’s cold coffee concentrate
Cold coffee is hotting up as the trendy new way to do coffee. Research from Nestle has found cold coffee consumption has grown by 15% since 2020.
To make the trend more accessible, it is now rolling out an espresso concentrate that makes drinks customisable – add a shot of milk for an iced latte, or just water for an Americano. Coffee lovers will be familiar with the concept thanks to its similarity in use and versatility to flavoured syrups. Australian’s will get to sample Nestle’s concentrates first, with European markets tipped to be targeted next.
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Image source: Trendhub The Food People 2024
