Soft drinks: Interest in healthy options is driving product development

CONTINUED emphasis is placed on health and wellness when manufacturers develop new soft drinks. This is in response to the common concerns on obesity, hyperactivity and other medical conditions brought about by added sugars and other ingredients in beverage.

 New product activity appears to be accelerating strongly, with rising levels of global launch activity over the past two years, following more restrained rises in the three years previous to that, reported Innova Market Insights.

Fruit juices and drinks dominated launch activity with over 43% of the total, reflecting the extremely diverse range of products included in the category. Carbonates came in second place with 14%, just ahead of concentrates and mixes, then iced tea and coffee drinks, sports and energy drinks, plain and flavoured water and sports and energy drinks.

Over the past five years, the shares of carbonates, juices and juice drinks, concentrates and mixes and iced tea and coffee have risen, whilst the shares of bottled water (flavoured and unflavoured) and sports and energy drinks have allen. A declining share of launch activity does not necessarily indicate a poor market performance overall, according to research manager Lu Ann Williams. “Sports and energy drinks remain one of the fastest growing sectors of the market over that period, despite their share of global soft drinks launch activity falling from a peak of 13% in 2005 to just under 7% today. Consolidation in the increasingly mature market, particularly the greater dominance of multinational brands and the disappearance of many smaller brands is probably the main reason for slowing activity rates, although actual launch numbers did still rise over the five-year period.”

Some products, such as juices and water, have an inherently healthy image, whilst some are formulated for specific benefits beyond hydration, notably sports and energy drinks. Elsewhere in the mainstream market, however, companies are continuing to position all types of products on health platforms of various kinds from the passive like sugar-free, low-calorie, and natural to the active, such as vitamin- and mineral-fortified, added-calcium and functional. Specific health benefits such as immune health, heart health, and oral health also belong in this category.

Over 58% of the soft drinks launches recorded by Innova Market Insights in the 12 months to the end of June 2012 had a health positioning of some kind, with more than half using passive health claims and 18% active health claims, indicating that a number may use both types of claim together. The most popular health-related claims recorded were undoubtedly concerned with naturalness and freedom from artificial additives and preservatives, and encompassed a wide range of products, led by water and juices which tend to be seen as inherently fairly natural, or can be relatively easily formulated to use this type of claim. Over 23% of launches were marketed as free from additives and preservatives, whilst nearly 13% used natural claims. Combining the two categories resulted in over 30% of total soft drinks launches using either one or bothNUESTRAS MARCAS