The good-for-you attributes of produce beverages have never been more appreciated.
Whether shoppers are looking for antioxidants, vitamins or immunity-boosting attributes found in specific ingredients, the category has performed well for the past few years and even better since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March.
With many supermarkets discontinuing in-store juicing stations and salad bars on the sales floor, the category is dominated by brands that are widely distributed.
“Prior to the (COVID-19) pandemic, the number of people looking for holistic wellness and ways to boost their autoimmune system was really growing, but food as medicine has become a mainstream trend across (multiple) categories, and this category falls underneath that,” said Craig Carlson, CEO of Carlson Produce Consulting.
The functional beverage category has been performing extremely well, he said, about doubling the growth of the overall beverage category.
The Hartman Group’s Functional Food & Beverage and Supplements 2020 report revealed that almost a third of consumers say they’re consuming more supplements (31%), functional foods or functional beverages (29%).
According to the report, at least half of adult consumers say they use functional food (58%) or beverage (56%) solutions to treat or prevent a specific condition, including general prevention efforts.
Researchers said consumers look to beverages for hydration, of course, but also for energy, bone and joint health, and immunity.
Carlson said that the vitamin C in orange juice has found renewed appeal from consumers.
“Consumers went right back to oranges and the citrus category for vitamin C and antioxidants, and they also went back to orange juice,” he said.
Many functional beverages are pasteurized and shelf-stable, and their placement in the store can vary between the produce department, dairy, in the natural food sections, or grouped with other beverages.
While carbonated beverages are under pressure and losing share of sales, shelf-stable functional beverages are gaining share, he said.
Some pasteurized produce beverages ask for refrigeration but could be sold without refrigeration, Carlson said. Often, produce beverages that are refrigerated seem like a better fit to claim produce department real estate.
Another way to look at that question, Carlson said, is to place beverages that are plant-based or produce-based in the department, whereas dairy drinks, for example, should be in the dairy department.
Mike Mauti, managing partner of Execulytics Consulting, said marketers of functional beverages love placement in the “hopping” busy produce department, which is typically visited by shoppers much more frequently than the natural foods department.
“Everybody wants to be in produce because of the foot traffic,” he said.
Expectations of shelf life for these beverages can vary from about 8 days to about 30 days, he said.
Mauti said the produce beverage/functional beverage category was growing by “leaps and bounds” even before COVID-19, and innovation in the category by up-and-coming players in the nutraceutical market has helped drive that growth.
Popular trends such as celery juice and cold pasteurization, also called high pressure processing, have accelerated the growth of the category.
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