Drinking Consumer Insights

Trend - Portable blenders are evolving into performance-focused wellness accessories through lightweight travel-ready designs, USB-C charging, and leakproof blending vessels that support mobile lifestyles while sustainable materials and high-powered motors are also being incorporated into design elements.

Insight - Consumers increasingly prioritize convenience-driven wellness products that support flexible, on-the-go lifestyles without disrupting daily health routines. Growing interest in personalized nutrition, fitness culture and mobile living is driving demand for compact appliances that simplify healthy food preparation across work, travel and recreation setting—positioning portable blenders as accessible tools for maintaining wellness habits in fast-paced environments.

Trend - As experiential retail evolves, brands are launching immersive café pop-ups where branded packaging, monograms, logos and curated design details transform everyday coffee rituals into multisensory experiences that reinforce identity and consumer affinity.

Insight - As consumers still gravitate towards aesthetically curated moments, brands are using café pop-ups to translate visual identity into tangible lifestyle experiences. From logo-stamped foam art and monogrammed cups to custom packaging and interior design cues—turning branding into something consumers can physically inhabit and document. As such, this approach can strengthen emotional resonance while encouraging organic visibility through everyday rituals and social content creation.

Trend - Alcohol brands are incorporating yuzu into citrus-forward cocktails, spritzes, wines, and spirits to introduce brighter and more globally inspired flavor profiles. By blending Japanese citrus with lighter alcoholic formats, brands are creating beverages that feel refreshing and contemporary.

Insight - Younger consumers are gravitating toward alcoholic beverages that feel lighter, fresher, and more globally inspired rather than overly sweet or conventional. This shift is reflected in the growing use of yuzu, which offers a tart citrus profile associated with sophistication and experimentation. By incorporating yuzu into wines, spirits, and canned beverages, brands can reinterpret familiar flavors through a premium and culturally distinctive lens.

Trend - Gen Z beverage concepts are reshaping soda through rapid flavor experimentation, limited drops, and visually driven branding optimized for social platforms. These drinks prioritize customization, co-creation, and cultural relevance, turning product launches into trend-responsive moments.

Insight - Gen Z consumers are increasingly treating beverages as extensions of identity, seeking options that reflect their individuality, values, and online presence. As such, drinks become tools for participation in cultural moments, offering a low-stakes way to experiment with trends and aesthetics—shifting from utility to meaning, where visual appeal, shareability, and personal relevance shape preference; turning everyday choices into expressions of self within social and digital environments.

Trend - In an experimental landscape of bold, unexpected flavors, banana remains a staple that brands continue to reinterpret across food and beverage categories. From drinks to snacks and desserts, its familiar sweetness is elevated through global or regional influences and premium pairings.

Insight - Today’s consumers are drawn to flavors that balance nostalgia with novelty, and common fruits deliver on both fronts. Moreover, natural sweetness, versatility, and strong emotional associations make everyday ingredients widely appealing, while adaptability allows for creative pairings across indulgent and better-for-you formats. As shoppers increasingly seek approachable yet elevated taste experiences, banana can offer brands a low-risk way to innovate while still tapping into familiarity and cross-generational interest.

Trend - Adaptogenic seltzers are sparkling beverages infused with adaptogens—plant-based ingredients commonly associated with stress support and overall balance. These drinks blend carbonation with functional ingredients like ashwagandha and lion’s mane, creating a refreshing, alcohol-free alternative designed for mindful relaxation.

Insight - Consumers are increasingly seeking beverages that align with their growing focus on wellness and mindful consumption, with more individuals now wanting options that also support balance and stress management. As a result, consumers are turning to beverages infused with functional ingredients such as adaptogens and botanicals that offer perceived wellness benefits while maintaining the light, refreshing qualities of traditional drinks like seltzers without potential, negative side effects.

Trend - As competition intensifies, food and beverage brands are differentiating themselves by introducing beer-infused menu items and packaged goods. From beer-laced desserts to bold soups, these offerings blend craft brewing with everyday foods to deliver distinctive, experience-driven taste profiles.

Insight - Today’s experience-driven consumers are increasingly drawn to bold, layered flavors that elevate everyday eating. As culinary curiosity grows, shoppers are seeking products that feel artisanal, novel, and shareable. For brands in saturated categories, these infusions offer a way to stand out and align with the cultural cachet of the craft beverage movement. Beer-infused foods can tap into this demand by blending familiar comfort items with craft brewing notes like hops, malt, and stout richness.

Trend - The popularity of bubble tea in Southeast and East Asian countries has expanded to the CPG space, with packaged bubble tea beverages and bubble tea-inspired foods offering ready-to-go options for those who enjoy the popular beverage.

Insight - After flavor, convenience is a major motivator for consumers when purchasing food and beverage items. People look for items they can consume on-the-go, or for those they can take and store at-home when they don't have the time or ability to make the products themselves. Brands that cater to convenience for beloved consumer goods are held in high regard.

Trend - As protein continues to shape nutrition and diet conversations, QSR brands are increasingly making it central to their menus; responding to a demand for options that still deliver speed and convenience. As a result, protein transforms into a normalized, accessible menu feature.

Insight - Many consumers are left balancing wellness aspirations against the realities of time, cost, and convenience. Protein—once associated with niche diets has emerged as a rare point of clarity within this complexity. And as QSR brands look for ways to make fast food feel intentional, the need to incorporate healthier options like protein, arises; resolving the tension between “eating well” and eating "quickly" or "cheaply," allowing everyday meals to signal nutritional awareness without requiring deeper dietary trade-offs.

Trend - Brands are turning fruit into a foam topping using aeration techniques. This foam is added to lattes and specialty drinks, offering a playful alternative to traditional milk foam; resulting in a creamy texture and visual appeal, while reducing the need for syrups or heavy additives.

Insight - Younger consumers and café regulars are moving away from overly sweet, artificial flavors in favor of ingredients that feel fresher, lighter, and more visually engaging. This shift is addressed by reinterpreting familiar fruit profiles in an aerated, textural format that suggests care and experimentation rather than excess, reflecting a growing preference for modest indulgences that feel thoughtful, lighthearted, and deliberately crafted. In doing so, brands tap into the appeal of customization and form social sharing through texture and aesthetics.