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Flavors are essential for the success of healthy beverages
While consumers are increasingly seeking better-for-you beverages with functional benefits, taste remains the crucial factor influencing their purchasing decisions, making it essential for manufacturers to balance healthiness with flavor appeal.
4 Min Read
At a Glance
- Consumers prioritize taste when making beverage choices, even if it means sacrificing health benefits.
- Natural sweeteners, protein sources and functional additives often have off-notes or aftertastes that can be off-putting.
- Beverage manufacturers need to employ flavor masking and modulation techniques to create healthy, tasty drinks.
Consumers want beverages that are better for them, but there’s a dealbreaker: taste.
A recent study conducted by International Food Information Council (IFIC) confirms a longstanding trend: Flavor is the deciding factor when making a food or beverage purchase. The 2023 IFIC report shows that that 87% of consumers prioritize flavor when choosing a beverage — up 80% in 2022. To put it simply, if it doesn’t taste good, consumers don’t want it, regardless of the benefits.
The ingredients used to make products are also more important to beverage consumers. Label-checking for artificial ingredients while shopping is increasingly common. The IFIC report found 55% of in-store grocery shoppers always or often check nutrition labels on foods and beverages. Furthermore, 30% of U.S. consumers identify “natural” as a key attribute of healthy food.
Functional beverages may be in vogue, but consumers are wary of how they will taste. Natural ingredients have a reputation for being healthy but not tasty. Innovative formulations offer mental benefits like energy, alertness and focus, as well as physical benefits like muscle-building gains. Functional ingredients, however, tend to be manufactured for function, not taste, and can evoke unpleasant sensory experiences.
Careful modulation, masking, flavor selection and sensory testing processes can help beverage formulators solve problems with taste and texture.
Low/no sugar
The rise of attention to health effects of blood sugar, the glycemic index of foods and “empty calories” has started a race to reduce sugar in beverages. Sugar substitutes are effective, but many do not meet clean label standards for consumers seeking to avoid artificial ingredients.
To complicate matters, natural sweeteners introduce taste challenges. For example, stevia imparts a high-intensity sweetness, but also carries licorice-like off-notes and a lingering aftertaste. Masking agents subdue these overpowering tastes, while flavor modulators ensure the characterizing flavors do not become dull or flat in low-sugar and sugar-free applications.
High protein
Protein is the macronutrient of choice for nearly 1 in 5 Americans. According to IFIC, 18% of U.S. consumers followed a high protein diet in 2023 — the highest among specific eating patterns tracked.
Consumers are taking their protein shakes out of the gym and enjoying them at work, at home and on the go. Shakes are a tried-and-true protein supplementation format, but often encounter taste and texture issues due to the large dosage of protein needed for the formulation. Dairy proteins can introduce bitter or animal-like notes. Plant proteins can taste earthy or beany. Masking flavors can reduce these off-notes or adjust the perception of them to bring the focus back the characterizing flavor.
Functional ingredients
Beverage applications are excellent delivery vehicles for functional ingredients, such as vitamins and minerals, amino acids, antioxidants and botanical extracts. Adding functional ingredients can introduce off-notes, however, which can overpower a formulation’s sensory profile.
Botanical or herbal extracts such as ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), Gingko biloba and ginseng can be extremely bitter. Flavor types that can be used as complements include citrus fruits, coffee, tea and chocolate.
Electrolytes
Beverages may contain high amounts of sodium chloride and other salts to deliver a given amount of electrolyte content. Flavors with modifying properties can help minimize the salty perception and increase desired attributes that may be lost due to the high sodium content. Some developers are choosing to use nonsodium salts to deliver electrolytes, such as calcium lactate, magnesium citrate and potassium citrate, which can also have bitter profiles. Selecting appropriate flavors to balance out the drinks is another important formulation consideration.
The recent growth in beverage brands has been explosive. In 2023, the beverage category was “up cross-channel by 10%,” with rising unit sales in all channels, according to SPINS. There is opportunity for innovation with functional ingredients, but an optimal sensory experience remains elusive due to the flavor challenges of most ingredients with health benefits.
Flavor masking and modulation systems solve many of these issues, while also pairing with the appropriate desired flavor. Sensory testing can also help ensure the finished product is one that consumers will want to drink again. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, so it’s important for manufacturers to work closely with their suppliers to develop solutions to match the specific need.
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