We Have Seen Bevs' Future, and It Is Us

Call it what you will - functional, nutraceutical, fortified, nutritionally enhanced, value-added - healthy-refreshment beverages (HRBs) are the wave of the future, non-carb or carbonated. Healthy refreshment can be a discrete $2 billion category within 5 years - and that figure may be conservative. From a consumer standpoint, sports drinks were initially driven by a trend toward exercise and fitness, whereas HRBs are being driven by a cultural shift toward wellness and the use of herbs and other natural supplements (already a $12 billion market and growing by double digits). HRBs also have the edge by product type and functional benefit by energizing the body, uplifting the spirit and enlightening the mind, not just replenishing lost fluids.