Functional beverages have taken the beverage industry by storm. New beverages launch every day: claiming enhanced benefits and new levels of efficacy.
But all this creates a bewildering situation for consumers: who are left overwhelmed by choice and are easily put off by weighty scientific explanations.
And, crucially, many people remain skeptical about the category in general.
The blocking points
So what’s stopping people exploring the functional beverage category?
One of the biggest problems is price. Research from product intelligence platform Vypr found that price is a problem: 32% of consumers surveyed in the UK said they simply feel products are too expensive.
Others felt they don’t understand enough about the products and the functionality (or safety) of ingredients. While ingredients such as electrolytes and collagen are easy to understand, far fewer consumers are familiar with reishi, ashwagandha and chicory root fibre.
“There is a large amount of scepticism around the perceived benefits, and many consumers think they are just marketing claims, coupled with the fact these products are generally in the more premium end of the shelf and therefore are demanding a higher spend,” notes Adam Simpson, drinks expert at Vypr.
Brands, therefore, need to overcome these two key challenges.
Build trust, gradually
Explaining the science behind brands is hard. It’s particularly difficult when a label needs to contain so much other information - let alone key branding and images - and consumers are clearly turned off by overly technical information.
Simpson’s top tip for brands is to hone in on something that consumers do understand to start with as a key selling point: giving them an immediate point of connection and understanding.
That means honing in on the natural element of products: ‘natural’ is at least something all consumers can understand and appreciate, even if it then takes them more time to properly research and understand the specific benefits of individual ingredients.
“Brands that can leverage both ‘functional’ and ‘natural’ together will have the highest chance of winning over new consumers and ultimately selling more of their products,” he said.
It’s all about trust
Building trust is more complicated. And today’s consumers are not as predictable as you might expect.
Social media and influencers are known for their power to sway consumers and their purchasing decisions. They’re a key element of brand building across the beverage industry.
But their power is less strong in functional drinks. In fact, Vypr’s research shows their input is poorly valued: less than 10% of consumers it surveyed felt they’d make purchasing decisions on this basis.
In this category, it’s all about trust.
“Consumers are looking for science backed accreditations: not social media or celebrity influencers endorsing the product,” said Simpson.
“They also trust the opinions of friends and family so word of mouth is a great way for brands to encourage trial and adoption.
But the biggest factor for most market consumers is quite simply taste.
Many still associated the functional beverage category with floury textures or medicinal tastes or other ‘strange’ off-notes.
In fact, Vypr’s survey found that positive, attractive flavor and taste descriptions were the most likely to bring people into the category: far above the recommendations from social media influencers and even scientific credibility.
