Beverage Industry logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Beverage Industry logo
  • NEWS
    • R&D News
    • Supplier News
  • PRODUCTS
    • New Products
    • Reader's Choice Poll
  • CATEGORIES
    • Alternative Drinks
    • Beer
    • Bottled Water
    • Cannabis Beverages
    • Carbonated Soft Drinks
    • Energy Drinks & Shots
    • Juice & Juice Drinks
    • Plant-Based Beverages
    • Sports Drinks
    • Tea and Coffee
    • Wine & Spirits
  • R&D
    • Beverage R&D Features
    • Ingredient Spotlight
  • PACKAGING
    • New Packages
    • Packaging Equipment
    • Packaging Material
  • OPERATIONS
    • Distribution
    • Plant Focus
  • TOP LISTS
    • Beer Market Report
    • Executive of the Year
    • State of the Beverage Industry
    • Top 100 Beverage Companies
    • Truck Report
    • Wholesaler of the Year
  • MEDIA
    • eBook
    • Podcast
    • Polls
    • Videos
    • Webinars
  • DIRECTORIES
    • Annual Manual
    • Contract Packaging Guide
    • Take a Tour
  • MORE
    • Classifieds
    • Channel Strategies
    • eNewsletters
    • Events
      • Membrane Technology Forum
    • Interactive Product Spotlights
    • Market Insights
    • Sponsor Insights
    • Store
    • White Papers
  • EMAG
    • eMagazine
    • Archived Issues
    • Advertise
  • SIGN UP!
Juice & Juice Drinks

Category Focus

Lemonade fusions add appeal to other beverage categories

Familiar category offers opportunities to introduce new flavors to consumers

By Jennifer Storelli
HealthAde Lemonade Kombucha
June 16, 2022

Lemonade, the longtime star of summertime beverage consumption, is leveraging its appeal to help other beverages shine. 

“Given today’s inflationary climate, consumers will likely reach for flavor profiles they know they will enjoy,” explains Anna Fabbri, food and drink analyst at Chicago-based Mintel. The comfort and familiarity of lemonade’s flavor allow consumers to explore new beverage products or categories without taking much risk in terms of taste. 

This is particularly true in the alcohol beverages category, where more than half of consumers are interested in lemonade flavors, particularly for spring and summer drinking occasions, Fabbri says. This gives people new to alcohol beverages in general or new to a particular alcohol category a comfortable stepping stone. 

 

Uncle Matts Organic Kids Lemonade
Uncle Matt’s Organic’s No Sugar Added Lemonade and No Sugar Added Strawberry Lemonade are sweetened with stevia for a healthier beverage option.
Image courtesy of Uncle Matt’s Organic

 

Lemonade flavor can be found all across the alcohol market, including in new products such as Jiant’s Summer Snowcone Berry Lemonade hard kombucha and Boochcraft Hibiscus Lemonade organic hard kombucha; Molson Coors’ Simply Spiked Lemonade; Seagram’s Strawberry Lemonade Vodka; Jose Cuervo’s ready-to-pour Peach Lemonade Margarita; White Claw REFRSHR Lemonade hard seltzers in Limón, Blood Orange, Blackberry and Strawberry varieties; and Crown Royal’s limited-edition Whisky Lemonade ready-to-drink cocktail. 

The lemonade-iced tea flavor duo also is trending in popularity in the alcohol segment, as seen in Rutter’s limited-edition Spiked Tea Cooler, Lover Boy’s Strawberry Lemonade sparkling hard tea and Molson Coors’ Arnold Palmer Spiked Lite flavored malt beverage with only 100 calories and 2 grams of sugar in each 12-ounce serving.   

The lemonade flavor also is prevalent across other beverage categories. For example, in energy drinks, lemonade is making an appearance in Corona, Calif.-based Monster Beverage Corp.’s Juice Monster Aussie Style Lemonade. In carbonated soft drinks, last summer PepsiCo Inc., Purchase, N.Y., released MTN DEW Spark with raspberry lemonade flavor. Austin, Texas-based Waterloo Sparkling Water Corp. also added a Blackberry Lemonade variety earlier this year. 

 

Swoon Matcha Lemonade
The new Swoon Matcha Lemonade by Swoon and Chamberlain Coffee is sweetened with monk fruit instead of sugar. Monk fruit is a healthier sweetener option, but it still is relatively niche, according to Mintel.
Image courtesy of Swoon

 

Lemonade also continuously provides inspiration on-premise, as seen in Wendy’s new Sunburst Melon Lemonade, which mixes Wendy’s lemonade with watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberry and kiwi flavors, and Taco Bell’s limited-time Dole Lemonade Strawberry Squeeze, which features Dole lemonade with strawberry flavor. 

The infusion of lemonade and lemonade flavors into other beverages also has helped expand exposure to the lemonade segment overall. Lemonade sales for the 52 weeks ending May 15 in total U.S. multi-outlets, show that single-serve bottled lemonade increased 6.7% while refrigerated lemonades were up 10.6%, according to data from Chicago-based Information Resources Inc. (IRI). 

Similarly, lemonade is proving to be a good vehicle for introducing consumers to new and unfamiliar flavors. According to Mintel’s 2022 report “Trending Flavors and Ingredients in Non-Alcoholic Beverages – US,” about 40% of consumers are encouraged to try a new flavor if it is offered in a beverage they already like. This gives beverage-makers opportunities to play with new and even familiar flavor combinations, like rose, elderflower, lilac, peach and watermelon lemonades, Mintel says. 

Unique flavor combinations could add the differentiation beverage-makers need to gain shelf space and market share within the category. Lemonade-flavored beverage launches grew nearly 25% between 2019 and 2021, according to data from the Mintel Global New Products Database, so consumers have plenty of seemingly similar options. 

In addition, the immune and gut-health benefits of citrus fruits make lemonade a natural partner for enhanced beverages to help boost the body’s defenses, says Erin Costello, communications and events associate at Imbibe Inc., Niles, Ill. 

Lemonade fusions

In May, Sunwink launched a Digestion Lemon Tonic. The beverage uses dandelion, lemon balm and chicory to stimulate digestion, soothe the digestive track, and support overall gut health and digestion. The San Francisco-based company says the digestive health beverage tastes like a sparkling lemonade. This new release is an extension of the lemonade-inspired Digestion Lemonade powdered beverage enhancer, which was launched in early 2021. Sunwink’s Digestion Lemonade combines superfoods chicory root, amla and dandelion to help with debloating. When added to water, the powdered beverage enhancer tastes like a juicy lemonade with a hint of pineapple, the company says.  

Lemonade-kombucha mashups also are trending, perhaps because the sweet and tart flavor of lemonade works well to mask the sour flavor of kombucha, Costello adds. Los Angeles-based Health-Ade  added a Berry Lemonade flavor to its kombucha lineup earlier this year. This summer-inspired brew is flavored with organic, cold-pressed blueberries and raspberries and infused with lemonade.

A two-way partnership

Even outside of the functional beverages category, lemonade adds an aspect of health to the other beverage categories noted above. At the same time, some of these combinations also have enhanced lemonade’s health halo, experts note. 

“Recent lemonade hybrid trends, such as lemonade blended with sparkling water or tea, offer hydration at a lower calorie and sugar content than lemonade alone, allowing consumers to treat themselves to a flavored beverage without derailing their wellness goals,” Mintel’s Fabbri says.  

lemonade kombucha

Lemonade’s sugar content has long been a health concern for some consumers. Beverage-makers are expected to experiment with different low- and no-sugar options to find that sweet spot for consumers. Many of the sugar-free lemonade launches from the past few years have used monk fruit as a sweetener, Fabbri notes. 

For example, the new Swoon Matcha Lemonade, created by New York-based Swoon and Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Chamberlain Coffee — which provides the matcha — is sweetened with monk fruit instead of sugar. Still, the ingredient’s use is relatively niche — as least as far as consumers are aware. Only one in five consumers says they have tried monk fruit, according to Mintel. 

Imbibe’s Costello adds that sucralose and stevia are common sugar substitutes for lemonade beverages as well. Uncle Matt’s Organic, Clermont, Fla., recently extended its no-sugar-added lemonade line with No Sugar Added Lemonade and No Sugar Added Strawberry Lemonade 200-ml juice boxes that are sweetened with stevia.  

As healthier lemonade options are formulated, lemonade will undoubtedly extend its role in the functional beverage space as well as in other beverage categories to bring both the health benefits of citrus and the familiar, appealing taste of lemonade to new products ready for trial. 


KEYWORDS: hybrid beverages lemonade sugar reduction

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Haderspeckj headshot200

Jennifer Storelli freelances for Beverage Industry, writing for the magazine’s print and online components. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University.

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
to unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • top 100 beverage companies

    Top 100 Beverage Companies of 2024

    For the global beverage market, mergers and acquisitions...
    Beverage News
  • Chocolate, Strawberry, Vanilla shakes

    Classic flavors provide reliable, consistent results for beverage-makers

    Classic flavors of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry...
    Ingredient Spotlight
    By: Chloe Alverson
  • Free Spirits Instant Bar Bundle

    Lifestyle trends drive growth for non-alcohol category

    As lifestyle trends continue to drive growth for the...
    Wine & Spirits
    By: Lauren Sabetta
Manage My Account
  • eNewsletters
  • Online Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service
  • eMagazine Subscription
  • Manage My Preferences

More Videos

Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content is a special paid section where industry companies provide high quality, objective, non-commercial content around topics of interest to the Beverage Industry audience. All Sponsored Content is supplied by the advertising company and any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily reflect the views of Beverage Industry or its parent company, BNP Media. Interested in participating in our Sponsored Content section? Contact your local rep!

close
  • Fourpeople toasting with cocktails made with low-sugar ingredients, celebrating healthier drink options.
    Sponsored byCargill

    What’s Hot in Sugar Reduction: Beverages

  • chocolate milk
    Sponsored byCargill

    Sweetening the Future for Dairy and Dairy-Alternative Beverages

  • woman pouring a drink
    Sponsored byFFP

    Building a Beverage System: Meeting Consumer Demand for Precision Wellness

Popular Stories

Celsius Fizz Free

CELSIUS launches new Fizz-Free flavors

PepsiCo.jpg

PepsiCo advances AI agenda

Narragansett Beer 1975 cans

Narragansett Beer celebrates 50 years of ‘Jaws’

Top 100 Beverage Companies of 2024

Events

April 16, 2025

2025 State of the Industry Series: Alcoholic Beverages

On Demand In Beverage Industry’s annual State of the Industry: The Alcohol Beverage Market, analysts at S&D Insights LLC delve into these trends and how they’re shaping the industry.

View All Submit An Event

Poll

Retail Coffee Segment

What retail coffee segments will fare well into the next year?
View Results Poll Archive

Products

Milk and Dairy Foods Nutrition, Processing and Healthy Aging

Milk and Dairy Foods Nutrition, Processing and Healthy Aging

See More Products

Related Articles

  • Lipton Fusions

    Lipton unveils Lipton Fusions Lemonade Iced Tea, getaways to ‘summer’ towns

    See More
  • energy

    Energy drinks adopt characteristics of other categories

    See More
  • DFH Sahtea

    Tea ingredients expand into most beverage categories

    See More
×

Elevate your expertise in the beverage marketplace with unparalleled insights and connections.

Join thousands of beverage professionals today. Shouldn’t you know what they know?

JOIN NOW!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Directories
    • Store
    • Want More
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletter
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing