July 17, 2014 - Blogs
Functional beverages inherently address two top concerns for consumers: nutrition and convenience. However, like any other food and beverage product, taste is a primary concern, and, when it comes to formulating functional beverages, maintaining the taste, texture, mouthfeel and overall quality consumers expect can be a challenge.
Determining what benefit a functional beverage will provide—and how consumers will receive it—is the first, and possibly most important, consideration when designing a functional beverage.
For example, in the energy drinks sector, companies like 5-hour Energy and Monster Energy launched women-friendly energy drinks after market research showed busy moms consume more energy drinks than other demographics. In fact, busy moms are more likely to use energy drinks than young, post-college adults and singles in their 20s and 30s.
Monster’s beverage, “Zero Ultra," features no sugar or calories, a sweeter flavor and packaging with feminine design elements. 5-hour Energy pumped up its selection with a pink lemonade offering, and contributed a portion of its sales to a breast cancer foundation. Both beverages saw immense success, prompting Monster to release another similar product with plans for a third.
Of course, pumping a beverage full of a highly-sought ingredient doesn’t automatically mean success. If the beverage is lacking on taste, texture or other sensory attributes, consumers won’t come back for more.
Achieving good taste is one of the biggest challenges to overcome when creating a functional beverage. Many nutritional ingredients tend to contribute off-flavors, which may require the use of masking agents or other ingredients or processing methods to improve taste.
And to improve texture in functional beverages, proper use of gums and starches can aid in providing desired sensory attributes when adding nutritional components.
However, creating a beverage that provides benefits consumers are seeking, and also provides quality sensory attributes and good taste is only part of the challenge. Product designers must ensure functional ingredients remain effective through the product’s shelf life.
Each functional ingredient’s efficacy should be evaluated in the finished product to ensure functionality. Sensitive ingredients can also be protected from degradation during shelf-life via encapsulation.
For a closer look at formulating functional beverages—including trending functional ingredients—download Food Product Design’s free Digital Issue, “Functional Foods & Beverages."
Functional beverages inherently address two top concerns for consumers: nutrition and convenience. However, like any other food and beverage product, taste is a primary concern, and, when it comes to formulating functional beverages, maintaining the taste, texture, mouthfeel and overall quality consumers expect can be a challenge.
Determining what benefit a functional beverage will provide—and how consumers will receive it—is the first, and possibly most important, consideration when designing a functional beverage.
For example, in the energy drinks sector, companies like 5-hour Energy and Monster Energy launched women-friendly energy drinks after market research showed busy moms consume more energy drinks than other demographics. In fact, busy moms are more likely to use energy drinks than young, post-college adults and singles in their 20s and 30s.
Monster’s beverage, “Zero Ultra," features no sugar or calories, a sweeter flavor and packaging with feminine design elements. 5-hour Energy pumped up its selection with a pink lemonade offering, and contributed a portion of its sales to a breast cancer foundation. Both beverages saw immense success, prompting Monster to release another similar product with plans for a third.
Of course, pumping a beverage full of a highly-sought ingredient doesn’t automatically mean success. If the beverage is lacking on taste, texture or other sensory attributes, consumers won’t come back for more.
Achieving good taste is one of the biggest challenges to overcome when creating a functional beverage. Many nutritional ingredients tend to contribute off-flavors, which may require the use of masking agents or other ingredients or processing methods to improve taste.
And to improve texture in functional beverages, proper use of gums and starches can aid in providing desired sensory attributes when adding nutritional components.
However, creating a beverage that provides benefits consumers are seeking, and also provides quality sensory attributes and good taste is only part of the challenge. Product designers must ensure functional ingredients remain effective through the product’s shelf life.
Each functional ingredient’s efficacy should be evaluated in the finished product to ensure functionality. Sensitive ingredients can also be protected from degradation during shelf-life via encapsulation.
For a closer look at formulating functional beverages—including trending functional ingredients—download Food Product Design’s free Digital Issue, “Functional Foods & Beverages."
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