Flavor enhancers let consumers customize their beverages. Juice makers combine flavors (especially superfruits), and tea brands go with lower-calorie sweeteners.
There are many contenders in the world of nondairy beverages and new ones keep pouring in. Manufacturers of waters, juices, coffees and teas have to continually find ways to set their offerings apart from the competition.
“As the marketplace gets more crowded, packaging becomes an increasingly important selling tool,” said Gary Hemphill, managing director at New York-based Beverage Marketing Corp. He expects that companies will invest more in packaging design for heightened shelf presence and a chance at greater sales. Other challenges facing the segment are trial, improving taste and communicating product benefits, Hemphill said. Here’s how nondairy beverage processors have been responding.