Ingredient Spotlight

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As health-and-wellness trends proliferate in the marketplace, consumers demand products offering functional benefits as well as great flavor. Used for thousands of years, tea has been a popular go-to for many health-conscious consumers whether in bagged, ready-to-drink (RTD) or through non-traditional categories like sports drinks and spirits.

Water is the most abundant element in the human body, a fact that many learn in grade school. But, water isn’t the element that builds muscles, hair, bone and many other tissues in the body — that would be protein.

In the 1959 film “Some Like It Hot,” the comedic stylings of Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon offer an entertaining twist about two musicians who witness the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre and dress in drag to avoid mafia gangsters.

Consumers know the importance of health and wellness. According to a survey conducted by New York-based Nielsen, consumers not only recognize the need to institute a healthy lifestyle, they also are willing to pay for it.

Last year, the beverage industry set high expectations for citrus flavors. In particular, lemon was predicted to be one of the Top 3 best-selling flavors in 2014, according to respondents of Beverage Industry’s 2013 New Product Development Survey.

The pop song “Sugar, Sugar” by The Archies contains the catchy line “Honey, honey, ah, sugar, sugar, you are my candy, girl, and you got me wanting you.” Although they weren’t singing about beverages, “honey, honey” is being used as a “sugar, sugar” substitute by beverage-makers and health-conscious consumers in hot and iced teas, water, and more.

As health and wellness trends continue to rise, more and more consumers are looking for natural options and checking the labels before they buy.

Whether it be for weight management, immune health or a number of other motivators, consumers understand the role health and wellness plays in their lives.

New and innovative products have helped contribute to SKU proliferation throughout the beverage industry, particularly within the craft beer and craft spirits markets. However, as these craft brewers and distillers look to push the envelope with their new releases, ingredient suppliers are looking to provide them with the tools they need to maintain that edge in the market.

Since the time coffee was introduced to North America during the Colonial period, it has continued to climb in popularity, according to the National Coffee Association.