Unboxed: 5 beverages with a boost
Imbibing gets more intentional with functional ingredients and clean formulations.
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Dandelion tea has long been used as an herbal remedy, lauded for its detoxifying properties and digestive support, among other benefits. Lion Tea has harnessed these qualities in a USDA Organic RTD tea that is made by brewing whole plant dandelions with real fruit and—for the lightly sweetened SKUs—a teaspoon of organic honey. This Unsweetened Lemon Elderflower Tea (one of six varieties in total) is light and fresh on the palate with just a hint of tartness. All of the products are made in the U.S. and only use recyclable glass and paper.
Functional coffees are exploding right now, as seen by this plant-based coffee drink that includes wellness-boosting turmeric—fully dissolved into the beverage through a proprietary process designed to make the most of this plant’s anti-inflammatory properties. Another benefit comes from the sprouted black soybeans, which offer protein, fiber, antioxidants and vitamins and minerals. Sweetened only with dates and coconut cream, this USDA Organic coffee drink has 60 milligrams caffeine from Fair Trade Certified coffee.
These refreshing beverages combine tantalizing fruit pairings with water kefir for a 45-calorie option with the benefit of 2 billion probiotic CFU’s. The drinks are handcrafted, brewed and bottled in-house and sweetened only with fruit juices for a perfectly sweet, subtly bubbly kombucha alternative that is USDA Organic and certified vegan.
This cocktail-in-a-can begins with Non-GMO, raw pressed juice sourced from local farms. The juice is wild fermented—without any added yeast or sugar—and aged for three months, resulting in a delectably tart, 99-calorie beverage boasting 6 billion CFU’s of live probiotic cultures in every can, and an alcohol content of 4.9%. All four SKUs (Restore, Hustle, Relax and Think) also gives imbibers the extra benefits of functional add-ins including ayurvedic ingredients, medicinal mushrooms and a range of botanicals. This flavor, which has an apple, passionfruit and strawberry base, offers anti-inflammatory turmeric, ginger and lions mane mushrooms for supporting brain health.
CBD seltzers are cropping up everywhere lately, thanks to a surge in these “drinks with benefits” in recent months. This one combines 23 mg CBD with a boost of clean energy from organic guayusa leaf extract, guarana seed extract and yerba mate leaf extract. Other varieties include Ginger Chill CBD Soda with organic chamomile flowers and Lemon Lime Clarity CBD Soda with Ashwagandha and Rhodiola.
CBD seltzers are cropping up everywhere lately, thanks to a surge in these “drinks with benefits” in recent months. This one combines 23 mg CBD with a boost of clean energy from organic guayusa leaf extract, guarana seed extract and yerba mate leaf extract. Other varieties include Ginger Chill CBD Soda with organic chamomile flowers and Lemon Lime Clarity CBD Soda with Ashwagandha and Rhodiola.
One of the most striking transformations in the natural food channel in recent years has been the healthy makeover of the beverage aisle. Once awash with ingredient- and sugar-heavy (followed by sweetener-heavy) teas, seltzers and the like, today’s brands are more in tune to consumers’ desire to live healthier lives. This means creating products that are not only free from sugars, sweeteners and other increasingly less-desirable ingredients, but that also have extra, wellness-promoting add-ins.
The result has been an explosion of innovation, characterized by RTD beverages that boast functional ingredients including botanicals, probiotics, adaptogens and macronutrients—among other things—offering consumers support in the form of clean energy, brain health, digestive ease, stress relief, sleep, immunity and more. In fact, a recent SPINS report indicates that sales of shelf-stable energy and other functional beverages is the fasted growing area, up $21.7 percent in 2019 in the natural channel.
And we’re not just talking about non-alcoholic beverages here. Alcoholic beverages have also been getting better-for-you makeovers with the use of functional and cleaner ingredients, time-honored techniques and important certifications like USDA Organic.
These five products reflect some of the hottest trends in RTD beverages right now.
This piece originally appeared on Food & Beverage Insider, a New Hope Network sister website. To read more expert analysis about this topic, check out "Drink up: Winning strategies for healthy beverages" digital magazine.
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