Similar to the drops, twists and turns of popular amusement park rides, product fads can leave beverage-makers gasping for breath — and redirecting budgets. Take for example, pomegranate, formerly the most super of the superfruits, which has plausibly suffered the most due to consumers’ frequently fickle preferences.
According to this year’s annual New Product Development survey (page 56), pomegranate will continue its fall from prevalence. In 2008 and 2009, survey respondents identified pomegranate as the No. 1 most-used flavor in beverage releases. But pomegranate’s decline was swift as the superfruit ranked 10th on the list of most-used flavors in 2010. Last year, pomegranate placed 18th as a most-used flavor and it’s 15th on the list of most anticipated top-selling flavors in 2012, according to Beverage Industry survey results.