A taste of something new

In our new series Drinking Different, we dive into the ever-expanding beverage market. What’s new, what factors are influencing what we see on supermarket shelves, and what can we expect in the future?  

Beverages are big business – with the global market worth approximately $1.81 trillion in 2022 and expected to hit $1.96 trillion by 2024. So, with the market set to keep growing, what new products are starting to emerge, what has propelled them onto the global stage, and will they stick around?      

Key categories

Within this mammoth market, beverages can be separated into a wealth of categories: within the non-alcoholic segment, consumers can take their pick from soft drinks, fruit juices, caffeinated drinks, sports drinks, beverages with particulates and much more, while alcoholic beverages include beer, wine, hard seltzers, kombuchas and so on. Overall, and as of 2020, water is still the most popular beverage type worldwide, followed by alcoholic beverages, milk and dairy products and carbonated soft drinks.

What’s new – and why?  

Despite the already large array of choices available to us the market is continuing to grow, be it in terms of new categories, new flavours, or new functional benefits. Part of that growth can be attributed to global issues like COVID-19 and climate change, both of which have made things like health, wellness and environmental responsibility major deciding factors in what we buy. In turn, re-shaping the product portfolios of many a manufacturer.

Examples include fermented beverages, a category which is set to almost double in size from 2018 to 2025, and no or low-alcohol beers, wines, spirits and ready-to-drink products. Also on the list and showing huge potential are enhanced waters and functional beverages.

Interestingly, packaging has also been instrumental in popularising these new products, with sustainability linking the two. This is evident from the growth of packaging options such aseptic cartons for shelf-stable beverages and bag-in-box wines. Packaging formats which are helping reduce food waste and which have a lower carbon footprint than other packaging options.

Raising a toast to new tastes

The megatrends mentioned above will continue to transform the global marketplace, with beverages no exception. To keep up with such shifts, manufacturers need to learn to adapt – with partners like SIG helping play a large role in this. With our top-of-the-line and highly flexible filling solutions, manufacturers can both expand their portfolios and continue to keep their production lines as streamlined as possible by switching between different products and packaging formats with ease.

In the next part of our series, we’ll focus on plant-based beverages. With more than 700 new products launched in 2019 alone, how much bigger and bolder can this segment get? Find out by subscribing to our exclusive bi-weekly newsletter, SIGnals Update.