While new products and flavors are released regularly, the food and beverage industry "often confuse innovation with disruption," noted Scott Dicker, senior director of marketing insights at SPINS. Brands seeking to disrupt a category are leaning into better-for-you and functional claims and attributes, finding market success in the process, he explained.
What does innovation in juices, pickles, pantry staples look like?
In recent years, juice innovation has lacked in the broader market, which has led to slumping sales, said Evonne Chan, data analyst at SPINS. The juice category saw flat demand for the 52 weeks ending April 21, according to Circana MULO data presented in the webinar.
“[Juice] is a category that really has seen some form of backlash over the recent years as people started pointing out the fact that these juices are actually really high in terms of sugar content,” Chan said. “Outside of the juice category and in categories like candy, we see a lot of brands ... using juice to sweeten their products because when you do that you are able to say zero-added sugar on your front of pack.”
The juice category can spur growth by focusing on functional ingredients, similar to what has happened in the broader beverage space, Chan noted. For instance, Uncle Matt’s released a line of juices with functional ingredients to support immunity, and Natalie’s Juice Company offers a Blood Orange, Strawberry, Ashwagandha beverage.
Pickles and other fermented foods also have an opportunity to tap into functional properties, as the “snackification” of pickles has led the category to see modest growth in the last year. The pickle category grew 3% for the 52 weeks ending April 21, according to Circana MULO data presented in the webinar.
“Pickles used to be ... a boring category, but we see a lot of flavors entering that category, and so that premiumization of pickles and the gut-health take on it could bring this category to new heights,” Chan added.
Lastly, pantry staples — from pasta, breads, mixes and baking chips — have an opportunity to similarly innovate around better-for-you attributes, including low-carb and low-sugar products, Chan said. For instance, Banza and Solely offer low-carb pastas that are formulated with chickpeas and squash, respectively.
Gut-health beverages disrupt soda, energy drinks turn to nostalgic flavors
Elsewhere in the food and beverage industry, better-for-you products already disrupted soda and energy drinks, Chan said.
Sodas with digestive health and low- or no-sugar claims have disrupted the traditional soda category. Digestive health sodas have grown by 174%, and diet and alternative sweetened sodas grew by 11%, according to Circana MULO data for the 52 weeks, ending April 21. The regular soda category — including full-sugar Coca-Cola and Pepsi products — grew by 5% for the same period.
Energy drinks are tapping into the demand for low-sugar products as well, while also meeting consumer demands for nostalgic and sweet flavors, Chan said. For instance, beverage and supplement brand Ghost offers a line of Sour Patch Kids- and Warhead-flavored products.
“We see brands really excel with adding nostalgic flavors to their products. So, a lot of pre-workouts have things that are [Sour Patch Kids, Skittles and popsicle flavored]. If you can think of it, they probably have it,” Chan said. “We see it moving into the energy drinks category as well ... and that is really bringing new customers into the category.”