From milky maple flavors to unexpected beverage collabs, let’s look at some of the top trends for 2025.
Flavors: From comfort creations to crazy concoctions
With a whole world of fancy flavors at their disposal, how can beverage innovators tap into the ones that would best appeal to today’s consumers?
Variety is the spice of life, so goes the saying, and that’s particularly true in the beverage industry.
Let’s start at the beginning with the classics: fruity and floral flavors will remain consistent favorites.
But beverage development company Flavorman says 2025 will be the year when one of these classics – tropical – really stands out.
“Fruity flavors are timeless, but tropical fruits will steal the spotlight in 2025. Banana, mango, dragon fruit, papaya, coconut – these tropical staples will evoke sunny escapes in every glass.”
That desire for something exotic can be expected to expand into global spices and herbs: with flavors like coriander, turmeric, star anise, ginger, and peppercorn varieties: “2025 will be a flavorful journey across continents!”
Meanwhile, dsm-firmenich has unveiled ‘Milky Maple’ as the Flavor of the Year 2025. A harmonious blend of creamy milk and rich maple, Milky Maple ‘captures a global desire for warmth, indulgence and wellbeing in 2025’.
It also closely aligns with Pantone’s Color of the Year 2025: Mocha Mousse.
“As food and beverage trends shift toward comfort, nature and personal wellbeing, people increasingly gravitate towards flavors that offer a taste of familiarity, balance and connection,” said Maurizio Clementi, Executive Vice President of Taste, Texture, and Health at dsm-firmenich.
“Milky Maple delivers on this demand – it is a soothing embrace that draws people into a world of warmth and indulgence.”
Don’t forget the unexpected
While tropical and Milky Maple suggest 2025 will be about comforting, familiar flavors, there are still many consumers who seek out adventure and excitement from their beverages. The continued popularity of limited edition flavors keep energizing the category with these taking creativity and imagination to the next level: take, for example, Pepsi Pineapple or Coca-Cola’s Creation series.
Keeping consumers interested with new, unexpected flavors and limited editions will continue to be key: but what’s more revolutionary in 2025 will be how we consume flavors.
“Beverages featuring customizable elements, like ‘flavor cartridges’, will find effortless compatibility with giving drinkers a ‘pick and choose’ experience,” continues Flavorman.
“This also includes any brand offering limitless flavor options – whether through variety packs, marketing campaigns dedicated to a flavor launch, or even releasing mystery flavors.
“Regardless of the chosen strategy, consumers will flock towards beverages with diverse flavors lining the shelves, so they ultimately hold the decision power.”
Meanwhile, nostalgia continues to inspire flavor innovation – think the popularity of drinks such as pink lemonade - but with the added twist of ‘newstalgia’ according to Swiss food and giant Nestlé.
What’s that? “Nostalgia is back, and what’s old is new again — but in a cooler, more modern way,” explains Nestlé. “As consumers seek opportunities to escape through culture and reflect on “simpler times” with fondness, new brands are teaming up with legacy brands and using familiar flavors, comforting classics and childhood favorites to reinvent the “old” with a fun and fresh twist.”
That, for example, includes Coffee mate x Kit Kat creamer, or Coffee mate Orange Cream.
71% of US consumers say they enjoy things that remind them of their past; while 84% say that nostalgic memories remain them of what’s important in life.
Functionality: a new era ‘unlike anything that’s come before it'
With health and wellness still a top priority for many, many consumers, functional beverages will continue to be a dynamic sector. Mass market areas such as hydration and energy still sit at the core of today’s functional beverage market – and will continue to do so.
Gut health and mushroom drinks deserve a special mention as they work from being niche into mass propositions.
But moving forward, the market is changing. There’s a rise of products targeting very specific needs across every aspect of physical – and mental – health. That, says Euromonitor International, is leading to a demand for beverage functionality ‘unlike anything that has come before it’.
Consumers are increasingly skeptical about pharmaceuticals, and may choose to look to natural remedies for chronic conditions such as sleep problems, stress and anxiety, or memory (sleep is a good example of this concept of ‘food as medicine’ – consumers often prefer to try natural alternatives before turning to drugs).
That sees the functional beverage market fragmenting into very specific niches – such as brands for menopause, pregnancy, or even hangovers.
This is a trend also highlighted by flavor, fragrance and ingredients company Flavorchem.
“The next wave of functional beverages will spotlight purpose-driven ingredients targeting specific wellness goals, such as cognitive support, enhanced hydration, and skin health,” it predicts.
“Beverage brands are incorporating performance-enhancing botanicals to support mental well-being, advanced electrolyte blends for all-day hydration, and marine collagen to promote skin vitality and beauty from within.”
But a word of warning. As the market gets more mainstream and consumers become more savvy, there’ll be more scrutiny from consumers and regulators alike.
“Lately, big-name functional beverage brands have made headlines for all the wrong reasons—legal troubles over inaccurate label claims,” notes beverage developers Flavorman.
“The term ‘false advertising’ can send shockwaves through consumer confidence and cause them to look closer at what’s in their cups. Gone are the days when a catchy claim alone could carry a product. Consumers are becoming more ingredient-savvy, scrutinizing formulations themselves.”
As a result, brands will choose to tread carefully.
“Brands will respond by incorporating beneficial ingredients without loudly broadcasting the benefits, trusting consumers to connect the dots,” continues Flavorman. “An example could be adding coconut water and pickle brine to a drink for electrolytes but only stating this on the ingredients list.”
Formats: Thinking outside the box when it comes to packaging and occasions
Any beverage innovator will tell you today’s shelves are highly crowded and competitive. The key to winning is to stand out and offer something new and different.
“For brands to cut through the clutter in today’s crowded environment, consumers have grown to expect experiences that are distinctive, personalized and reflective of who they are as people,” notes Nestlé. “The brands that win in today’s competitive landscape allow consumers to explore within familiar spaces. As a result, brands are re-imagining beloved products to meet consumers in new aisles, formats and occasions.”
So what does that mean? One example from Nestle is its launch of Nespresso Honey: an unexpected innovation that brings honey made from bees at Nespresso’s coffee farms into a completely different aisle from Nespresso’s normal shelves.
Brand collaborations – very much in vogue - can be an easy way to bring in this element of intrigue with double the brand power: such as Pepsi x PEEPS marshmallow cola.
And when it comes to format, will 2025 be the year when sustainability considerations drive mass shift across how the beverage industry thinks about packaging?
In the wine and spirits industry, innovators are hopeful that paper bottles have what it takes to become a mass market proposition. Lightweighting continues to be key for brands that do use glass. Upcycled ingredients will continue to gain traction; as will the idea of using all of each ingredient to avoid waste (take, for example, cascara: the dried husks of coffee cherries that have often been wasted but can act as a functional energy ingredient in beverages).
Perhaps one of the biggest rethink in beverages in 2025 will come from an occasion where soft drinks have been present all along – but historically failed to fully grasp the opportunity.
As more and more consumers seek to moderate their alcohol consumption, what are they turning to instead? While alcohol alternatives movement may be gaining traction (think alcohol-free beer, alcohol-free wine and alcohol-free spirits), soft drinks increasingly see an opportunity to be part of this revolution. But their place isn’t the place they had before - the limited choice between water, fruit juice and carbonated soft drinks that catered solely for people who couldn’t drink - soft drinks know they need to up their game to compete in this category where consumers are now choosing not to drink and have an increasing choice of elevated beverages to select from.
This year, Dry January not only has alcohol-free alternative partners but also soft drink partners: wonky fruit-infused sparkling water brand Dash has been named as ‘Official Soft Drink’ of the 2025 Dry January challenge by Alcohol Change UK.
The naturally-flavored soft drinks contain 0 calories, 0 sugar and 0 artificial sweeteners. The brand’s research suggests that 20% of Dash consumers drink Dash as an alternative to alcoholic drinks at social occasions, and it clearly hopes its Dry January positioning will help it grow this opportunity.
