The Natural List - Functional beverages, health span and Amazon’s strategy

In this week's episode of The Natural List, co-hosts Jessica Rubino and Adrienne Smith dive into the rapidly expanding healthy beverage space, highlighting products that blend convenience with functional ingredients. From ready-to-drink beverages with supplement panels to products such as Bloom Nutrition’s colostrum and collagen peptides—focused on gut health and skin, hair and nail health—functional beverages are growing fast. Jessica and Adrienne’s UNBOXED picks include ÖRLÖ Nutrition's Icelandic Ultra Spirulina Women’s Vitality Mix, a carbon-negative, nutrient-packed product, and The Peachie Spoon Protein Powder, a versatile supplement combining grass-fed whey, MCT oil and acacia fiber. 

Our hosts also explore health span and how it’s reshaping the longevity market, with consumers prioritizing not just living longer but living healthier. Findings from Nutrition Business Journal’s Longevity Report reveal generational concerns around health, from Gen Z's focus on insomnia to Gen X and millennials’ concerns about Alzheimer's and dementia. Jessica and Adrienne wrap up this week with a look at Amazon’s new grocery strategy, which integrates Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market and Amazon.com with the intention of making it easier for consumers to shop across platforms. Tune in for more insights, and don’t miss next week’s discussion on NEXTY do’s and don’ts! 

Related:The Natural List - Hot topics for Natural Products Expo West 2025 with Jenna Fitch

In this episode:   

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Your hosts 

About Jessica Rubino  

Jessica Rubino is a natural products industry expert and content strategist with more than 15 years experience in media, events and natural products. As New Hope Network’s vice president of content, Jessica oversees digital and print content, conference programming and branded content for CPGs, retailers, investors and service providers. Jessica is passionate about using innovation as a force for good and leveraging content to spark the changes we want to see in the world.  

About Adrienne Smith  

Adrienne Smith is the director of content for newhope.com and the editor-in-chief of Natural Foods Merchandiser magazine where she helps ideate and produce content for natural products retailers, brands and entrepreneurs. Before coming to New Hope Network, she spent nearly two decades writing about food and beverage products and trends for the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Trade in Madrid, Spain, as well as for publications including the International Herald Tribune/New York Times and El País.