Unpacking 2025 Beverage Trends

The beverage industry is constantly evolving to keep pace with shifting consumer tastes, and 2025 is no exception. Building on the momentum of 2024 trends, this year is all about refining, expanding and elevating the trends that took hold last year.

With that in mind, let's take a look at the biggest 2025 beverage trends and what's behind them.

What’s Driving New Trends in Beverages?

The following goals and preferences are driving beverage trends in 2025.

The Pursuit of Precision Wellness

Over the past decade, the conversation around health has evolved. In the 2010s, concepts like holistic health and the mantra “you are what you eat” gained traction, alongside the rise of fitness wearables like the Apple Watch and Fitbit. The 2020s brought a shift toward hyper-personalization in health and wellness, with the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating demand.

Today, new beverage trends focus on preventive health, longevity and precision wellness. Consumers make intentional nutritional choices to help them meet their goals. As a result, consumers are increasingly reaching for better-for-you options. Demand is high — and continues to grow — for beverages that offer lower sugar, higher nutritional value, or health or functional benefits.

Adventurous Palates

Gen Z and millennials are driving demand for global flavors and new, unexpected and complex flavor profiles due to their digital fluency, multicultural mindsets and appetite for adventurous experiences. For them, beverages are more than refreshments — they're a form of cultural exploration and personal expression.

Even without a passport, these two generations explore the world through flavor, driven by curiosity, authenticity and a desire to connect with other cultures. This is driving the popularity of global flavors and conventional spirits from other cultures, including sake, soju and agave-based spirits like tequila. 

Similarly, consumers are seeking more unique flavor combinations, such as Pop Jones Pineapple Ginger Prebiotic Soda and United Sodas Strawberry Basil featuring organic sweetener.

Media Influences

Media plays a key role in shaping consumer trends in the beverage industry. For example, it's fueled the resurgence of dirty sodas — nostalgic drinks made by mixing soda with cream and flavored syrups. Originally tied to Utah and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) culture, the trend exploded on TikTok and gained momentum with the release of "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives."

Now, beverage brands are jumping in with ready-to-drink (RTD) versions that channel the same soda fountain charm. Pepsi’s Wild Cherry & Cream and Spindrift’s new lineup — featuring flavors like Concord Freeze, Orange Cream Float, and Shirley Temple — capture the indulgent, customizable appeal that made dirty sodas a viral hit.

6 Trends for Beverages in 2025

BevSource experts anticipate the following six movements to dominate the beverage trends for 2025.

1. Functional Hydration 2.0

Consumer perceptions of hydration continue evolving as they more closely assess what brands add to their beverages instead of just what's left out. Simply drinking plain water to quench one's thirst is no longer the answer. Targeted, functional hydration goes beyond conventional beverages to selections that help enhance well-being from the inside out.

Demand for functional hydration is growing, driven by changing consumer expectations. Customers want options that provide potential health benefits, performance enhancement and clean-label ingredients. They expect the beverages they reach for to meet their lifestyle goals, offering personalized hydration solutions and scientifically backed claims. Today's more health-conscious consumers are also looking for advancements in ingredient science. 

This evolution beyond plain water and conventional sports drinks will also spur consistent demand for beverages enriched with vitamins and functional additives with the potential to support higher immunity, better mood, enhanced cognitive function and other personalized wellness goals. As a result, expect to see continued popularity and sustained growth in the market for functional waters and beverages enhanced with ingredients like pre-, pro- and postbiotics. Brands like Recess, OLIPOP and Coca-Cola have responded with beverage options designed for possible stress relief and digestive health improvements.

Electrolyte-rich hydration products will continue to dominate and expand the functional beverage market as essentials for anyone leading an active lifestyle. Athletes, fitness enthusiasts and everyday consumers are gravitating toward beverages infused with sodium, potassium and magnesium that focus on performance recovery and energy replenishment. Brands that innovate with formulas targeting specific demands — for example, post-workout or everyday hydration — will have a competitive advantage.

Other emerging trends in Functional Hydration 2.0 include beverages featuring:

• Performance-enhancing ingredients: Consumers are increasingly seeking options containing creatine and amino acids, as well as lower-sugar alternatives to enhance performance.
• Adaptogenics and nootropics: Developers are infusing beverages with ingredients like ashwagandha, Rhodiola, L-theanine, lion's mane and magnesium that may help the body better cope with stress and boost cognitive functions.
• Support for beauty and skin health: Options enriched with antioxidants and collagen can help consumers support outer beauty from within.
• Natural ingredients: Beverages with natural flavors, sweeteners and plant-based hydration solutions like coconut water will better meet consumer preferences.

Other potential disruptors in Hydration 2.0 include ready-to-drink (RTD) teas, fermented teas and functional coffees.

New and growing beverage brands that understand their audience's preferences can explore new formulations to meet them. While flavor will still be paramount, consider novelty options like stick packs, monk fruit as a natural sweetener or added fiber to appeal to your target consumer.

2. Soda Reinvented

Hydration 2.0 has also led to better-for-you options in cross-over categories, like soda. Expect brands to continue reshaping the soda landscape to appeal to health-conscious consumers and their evolving preferences. 

The functional soda market has an oversized impact relative to its size. For example, the pre- and probiotic soda niche — led by brands like Poppi and OLIPOP — accounts for 2% of the soft drink market in the United States. Yet, the segment's growth more than doubled over the previous year. The growth potential here has caught the attention of legacy brands. Coca-Cola entered the market with its launch of Simply Pop, while Pepsi recently acquired Poppi to capture market share.

As beverage developers continue reinventing soda offerings, other trends to watch include the following:

• Cross-over soda-flavored water, like Liquid Death's Doctor Death
• The comeback of retro flavors and brands, such as OLIPOP's Tropical Punch and the reemergence of Slice.
• Higher fruit juice content and lower-sugar varieties, like Spindrift and Nixie
• Traditional water and CBD-infused beverage brands experimenting with better-for-you sodas, such as Sparkling Ice maker Talking Rain and CBD beverage brand Daytrip entering the prebiotic soda space
• Innovative flavor combinations and prebiotic-enriched options from newcomers like Bloom Pop, such as Shirley Temple soda
• Clean-label and certified organic sodas, like Fresh Fizz Sodas

Retail stores are also embracing the functional soda trend, with titans like Walmart crafting “Modern Soda” sections in their stores. Shelves feature options with potential added benefits, including popular brands like Zevia, OLIPOP and Poppi.

3. Protein as a Powerhouse 

Modern consumers are more aware than ever of the benefits of protein and its role in health and well-being. These polypeptides are instrumental in supporting healthy aging, immune systems, muscle maintenance and weight management. 

As a result, protein has transitioned from a niche supplement to a mainstream beverage ingredient and a key component of the overall shift to more health-conscious, active lifestyles. Buyers are actively seeking beverages that make it easier to increase their intake and comparing labels to validate their choices. Industry research found that packaging claims of " a good source of protein” are a primary purchasing driver.

Popular protein-fortified options include coffees, teas, waters, juices, shakes and smoothies. Consumers are also embracing hand-held, portable nutrition. On-the-go meal replacement shakes and smoothies in pouches simplify consumption and support consumers' desire to be less sedentary.

Brands are also extending nutritional value by stacking benefits to develop functional protein beverages. These drinks use protein as their core or "health halo" ingredient, then add adaptogens or bioactive compounds offering additional wellness benefits.

Other emerging trends include plant-based protein-fortified beverages — like Koia, OWYN and Ripple — and clear, protein-infused beverages. Demand is also rising for high-protein options, leading brands to develop beverages offering 30 grams or higher of protein per serving.

Brands looking to spur their growth with protein-fortified drinks should consider creative beverage formulations and RTD options that satisfy consumers' desires for flavorful, portable nutrition. Highlighting protein fortification in packaging will also help foster a health halo and drive purchasing.

4. Alcohol-Conscious Consumption

As part of their overall shift to a greater focus on wellness, many consumers are embracing more alcohol-conscious or sober-curious lifestyles and looking for alternatives that help them meet these goals. The changes in social norms and drinking culture are the primary drivers for market growth in the low- and no-alcohol — low and no — segment.

Consumer attitudes about alcohol have undergone a transformation from a focus on intoxication to a focus on the experience. Mindful drinking — the act of being aware of and present in one's relationship with alcohol — is a popular movement influencing consumer behavior. Others practice zebra striping, alternating an alcoholic drink with a nonalcoholic one, to moderate their alcohol intake. 

Younger adults, especially millennials and Gen Z, have also helped increase the acceptance of alcohol-free options in social settings. Beverage brands have leveraged advancements in brewing and distilling techniques to expand their low and no offerings into new product categories with options like Beefeater Gin's 0% alcohol by volume (ABV) gin. Innovative companies like Seedlip, a plant-based, nonalcoholic spirit, further cater to these goals with unique flavors and rich, colorful labels.

Beverage developers should consider responding to these shifts through premiumization — crafting sophisticated and functional beverages with complex flavors and elevated packaging. Other key considerations for premium-positioned offerings include artisanal production, local sourcing and innovative flavor combinations.

Sessionable drinks, or those with 4% to 5% ABV or less, also remain strong candidates for growth potential.

5. Hybrid Beverage Popularity

Unique combinations like spiked coffees, sparkling teas and caffeinated sparkling waters continue to broaden consumer choices and meet demands for novel consumption options. These drinks blur distinctions between categories, allowing consumers to explore different flavor combinations and textures of more familiar beverages.

Trending examples in this category include brands like Loverboy sparkling hard tea and HOP WTR. These drinks offer taste experiences that appeal to adventurous consumers while meeting their demands for functional benefits or nutritional value. For example, Loverboy uses zero sugar, all-natural ingredients and organic teas to craft their beverages. HOP WTR is a nonalcoholic sparkling water made with strong hops and enhanced with nootropics and adaptogens that can boost mood. Boasting IPA-inspired flavors, HOP WTR positions itself as a beverage that allows consumers to enjoy the social and flavorful aspects of drinking without the drawbacks associated with alcohol.

Beverage developers who want to leverage hybrid beverages' current popularity should formulate options that evoke curiosity and hint at fun new experiences. Experiment with creative and unexpected flavor combinations, and consider infusing your options with functional ingredients that appeal to modern consumers' preferences for health-conscious choices.

6. Dynamic and Engaging Packaging

Modern consumers expect more from their beverage packaging than simple functionality. They want packaging that engages them, with designs that resonate with their values and elements that take them on a brand journey. Products that meet or exceed these expectations can generate social media buzz, boosting brand awareness and sparking higher demand. As a result, more beverage developers seek innovative ways to incorporate interactive components in their packaging.

Consider options like QR codes that direct purchasers to dedicated landing pages. These are ideal for telling your brand's story, highlighting your commitment to sustainability or tracing sources to showcase product authenticity. Heat-sensitive labels are another trend gaining traction. These change color as the environmental temperature fluctuates, indicating the optimal temperature for beverage consumption.

Limited-edition and premium packaging are also generating consumer excitement and driving demand. For instance, 1800 Tequila issues artist-designed bottles that elevate their brand's look and offer one-of-a-kind collectibles. Smart, bold packaging also helps brands stand out on crowded shelves. Evian Water's collaboration with luxury designers, limited-edition bottles and QR codes leading to wellness tips offer inspiration for what's possible.

Other trending packaging innovations include:

• Hidden-message labels: The gin brand ROBBER has text on its label that transforms when illuminated by UV light.
• Textural elements: Clever brands like Fontecalada wine and Icelandic Glacial make the most of their packaging by incorporating texture that nods to their products' origins.
• Interactive experiences: The Australian brand 19 Crimes uses augmented reality to bring the stories behind their wines to life.

Capitalize on Beverage Trends With BevSource

We can sum up the 2025 beverage development trends in a few words — a continued focus on wellness. Whether it's options that offer functional benefits or indulgent experiences, today's consumers expect more flavor, selection, innovation and function from their beverages than ever.

BevSource is an experienced and trusted partner for beverage development, production and manufacturing solutions, and post-production support. Our expert guidance helps startups and growing brands mitigate production risks, reduce barriers to market entry, maximize their resources and improve speed to market.

Have a beverage idea you're ready to pursue? Let's make it happen together — contact us online to start the conversation.