Aug 31, 2026 · 19 min · 9 segments
As consumers look beyond generic energy and wellness claims, emerging brands are creating drinks tailored to specific needs, from focus and calm to protein and recovery
Welcome to Food Navigator USA's Soup to Nuts podcast with Elizabeth Crawford, where I dish with trendsetters, tastemakers, and industry experts about everything from emerging trends to regulatory pressures to marketing strategy.
From claims as simple as functional and hydration to more complicated body, brain, and mood-boosting call-outs, added benefits have become table stakes for beverages as consumers increasingly eschew empty calories and look to make every sip count.
According to Spate, the uptick in the use of the phrase shows that consumer adoption of an industry term at scale underscores an important shift in how they evaluate beverages.
Specifically, Spate says that it emphasizes how shoppers increasingly think in terms of what a drink does rather than what it is.
But as shoppers become more sophisticated and selective about their drink choices, the added benefits, ingredients, and formats that they want are shifting.
as is the marketing, branding, and packaging that best resonates given beverages double duty as status symbols for many shoppers.
In this episode of Food Navigator USA's Souped Nuts podcast, the founders of four emerging brands share where they see challenges and opportunities within the functional beverage category, including where there's white space for innovation, market saturation, how they're cutting through the competition, and explaining to consumers the benefits that their products proffer.
These include a deep dive into the potential for protein in drinks with insights from entrepreneurs behind the sparkling bone broth beverage, Marrow, and the nutritionist who created H2 Pro Plus protein water.
Meanwhile, the founder of Brain Food shares insights about the emerging demand for cognitive support and the power of her sparkling nootropic brain health drink to support focus, mental clarity, and stress management.
And finally, an insider with the supplement drink mix company Avro Life shares how the functional category is fragmenting into occasions and needs.
Energy drinks also are a top functional beverage by popularity increase, with a year over year spike of 40.3%, according to the report.
It might mean more vitamins and minerals needed to boost focus, brain wellness, and stress balance, which when not adequately supported can feel like burnout, exhaustion, and brain fog.
Megan Burton, the CEO and co-founder of the sparkling water startup Brain Food, saw this distinction as an opportunity to break free from competitors in the traditional energy drink category and offer consumers something more than stimulation from caffeine, which can cause jitters and a subsequent crash.
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Welcome to Food Navigator USA's Soup to Nuts podcast with Elizabeth Crawford, where I dish with trendsetters, tastemakers, and industry experts about everything from emerging trends to regulatory pressures to marketing strategy.
From claims as simple as functional and hydration to more complicated body, brain, and mood-boosting call-outs, added benefits have become table stakes for beverages as consumers increasingly eschew empty calories and look to make every sip count.
According to Spate, the uptick in the use of the phrase shows that consumer adoption of an industry term at scale underscores an important shift in how they evaluate beverages.
Specifically, Spate says that it emphasizes how shoppers increasingly think in terms of what a drink does rather than what it is.
But as shoppers become more sophisticated and selective about their drink choices, the added benefits, ingredients, and formats that they want are shifting.
as is the marketing, branding, and packaging that best resonates given beverages double duty as status symbols for many shoppers.
In this episode of Food Navigator USA's Souped Nuts podcast, the founders of four emerging brands share where they see challenges and opportunities within the functional beverage category, including where there's white space for innovation, market saturation, how they're cutting through the competition, and explaining to consumers the benefits that their products proffer.
These include a deep dive into the potential for protein in drinks with insights from entrepreneurs behind the sparkling bone broth beverage, Marrow, and the nutritionist who created H2 Pro Plus protein water.
Meanwhile, the founder of Brain Food shares insights about the emerging demand for cognitive support and the power of her sparkling nootropic brain health drink to support focus, mental clarity, and stress management.
And finally, an insider with the supplement drink mix company Avro Life shares how the functional category is fragmenting into occasions and needs.
Energy drinks also are a top functional beverage by popularity increase, with a year over year spike of 40.3%, according to the report.
It might mean more vitamins and minerals needed to boost focus, brain wellness, and stress balance, which when not adequately supported can feel like burnout, exhaustion, and brain fog.
Megan Burton, the CEO and co-founder of the sparkling water startup Brain Food, saw this distinction as an opportunity to break free from competitors in the traditional energy drink category and offer consumers something more than stimulation from caffeine, which can cause jitters and a subsequent crash.
