Kimberly Decker

Energy beverages had a rough year in 2012. The trouble started that April, when Illinois Senator Richard Durbin petitioned FDA to "take regulatory action and to address the rising health concerns around energy drinks."

Seventy percent. That’s the figure that kept running through my mind as I stared at the landscape outside the air-conditioned van.

Dairy inclusions are adding excitement and flavor to products.

You've got to be pretty quick to keep up with the changing dairy beverage space these days. Dairy brands are looking for new ways to compete not only with sodas, which are finally starting to cede market share to better-for-you options, but also with a growing array of better-for-you beverage options.

According to 2017 ice cream research from global market research firm Mintel, only 11% of U.S. consumers claim to be cutting back on ice cream or frozen treats for health-related reasons. What’s more, 10% of consumers went on record as actively avoiding healthy frozen dairy treats because, well, frozen dairy is supposed to be a treat, not a health food.

Despite all the changes that racked the world — and our corner of it — these past 12 months, as dairy developers survey the trends and technologies that will shape their R&D efforts in 2018, one theme looms above all others: clean labeling.

According to the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), roughly 72% of the world’s cocoa production occurs in West Africa, with Latin America accounting for another 18% and Asia and Oceana shoring up the remaining 10%. So for North American chocoholics, there really is no such thing as locally sourced chocolate.

Demand for plant proteins — and not just soy, but pea, seed, bean and more — is reinvigorating the sector in whole new ways. While a 2015 report by the research firm MarketsandMarkets predicted dairy proteins will reach a value of $18 billion by 2020, plant proteins are hardly far behind. Mordor Intelligence research from 2017 estimates their value will top $14 million by 2022.

For a fermented dairy beverage that originated in the Caucasus Mountains more than 2,000 years ago, kefir sure is having a moment. Innova Market Insights reports that the number of kefir launches grew more than threefold globally between 2011 and 2016. In the United States, beverages featuring kefir accounted for 40% of the drinking yogurt/fermented beverage introductions in 2016.

Euromonitor data confirm what many of us already knew: Energy beverages are going gangbusters. Sales topped $11.1 billion and two billion liters in 2016.