The U.S. beverage industry is competitive with many large, mature categories. Finding new growth opportunities is a key concern for beverage companies large and small.
The market research firm Packaged Facts uncovers key beverage industry trends and opportunities in its latest beverage industry report titled U.S. Beverage Market Outlook 2019, which covers a wide variety of beverage categories from bottled water and coffee to dairy and juice.
In the report, Packaged Facts provides insights into where the market growth is expected to be and why. Here’s a quick look at three of the trends and opportunities discussed in the report.
1. Online Sales of Beverage Products Rise
Although beverage internet sales are still relatively small, they are growing fast. In fact, beverages are the best-selling grocery category on Amazon overall, with coffee and cold beverages leading the way with high double-digit sales growth rates.
Online grocery shopping has become increasingly popular alongside the proliferation of smartphones. Enhanced websites and mobile apps make it easier than ever for consumers to buy groceries online, and companies are expanding their business models to offer more convenient delivery options.
As e-commerce expands and more consumers open to this way of shopping, online grocery sales are expected to more than quadruple by 2023.
2. A Focus on Mashups in New Product Development
Beverage companies have released new innovative formulations to drive growth, including mashups that fuse two or more products that wouldn’t usually be paired together.
Examples include:
- Carbonated coffee drinks such as 7-Eleven’s private-label Fizzics Sparkling Cold Brew Coffee
- Cold-pressed juice and cold-brew coffee blends
- Cold-brew coffee made with maple water as a sweet low-calorie drink
- Cold-brew tea as complement to cold-brew coffee
- Sparkling iced teas such as Sound Sparkling Tea, available in Chamomile, Green Tea, Rose Tea, Yerba Mate, and White Tea
- Tea-based beverages that function as energy drinks such as five-hour TEA Shots
Consumers may no longer be reaching for soda as frequently, but they still want ready-to-drink beverages that feature more natural ingredients, an energy boost, and lower calories and sugar content. These mashups help fill this gap and offer new drinking experiences for consumers to try.
3. More Clean-Label Kid's Beverages
An increasing number of parents — particularly Millennials — want to avoid sugary drinks. As a result, beverage companies are also rolling out better-for-you products for kids made with lower sugar levels and natural or organic ingredients.
An example is RETHINK Kids Water, which comes in five flavors and doesn’t contain any sugar or calories. These products are sold in a package similar to a juice box.
Juicy Juice has also increased its better-for-you offerings with Slashers Organic, which contain less sugar, no high fructose corn syrup, and no artificial sweeteners.
LALA’s Good Kids Super Smoothies is another example. This product is made with low fat milk, fruit, and probiotics, without any high fructose corn syrup.
Where to Learn More
To find out more, be sure to read the full beverage industry report by Packaged Facts, which provides comprehensive data and analysis on market segmentation, market growth, competition, mergers and acquisitions, next generation product innovation, marketing trends, and consumer trends.
The report covers bottled & enhanced waters, carbonated beverages, coffee & ready-to-drink coffee, dairy beverages & non-dairy milk alternatives, energy & sports drinks, juices, and tea & ready-to-drink tea.
UPDATE: For the most recent information available, see our new blog post "6 Key Beverage Industry Trends to Watch in 2022" and check out the latest edition of U.S. Beverage Market Outlook.
About Packaged Facts: Packaged Facts publishes market intelligence on a wide range of consumer market topics, including consumer demographics and shopper insights, consumer financial products and services, consumer goods and retailing, and pet products and services. Packaged Facts also offers a full range of custom research services. Reports can be purchased at our company website and are also available through MarketResearch.com.
