Ingredients are making energy drinks a new beverage trend

According to Future Markets Insights, the global energy drink market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7% from 2022 to 2032, and the market size will reach $98.8 billion (about RMB 670 billion).

Future Markets Insights mentioned in the report that the market for energy drinks is driven by a large consumer group that covers all age groups, especially energy drinks with natural ingredients are being favored by fitness enthusiasts.

So what are the natural ingredients that affect energy drink sales? What changes have occurred in the formulation in recent years?

Sugar and caffeine are the main ingredients of energy drinks. Among them, sugar is a source of energy, while caffeine has a refreshing function. However, the report mentions that these two ingredients have also brought some resistance to the development of energy drinks. In the International Food Information Council 2022 Food and Health Survey, 73% of respondents then said they tried to avoid or control the intake of sugar. Higher levels of caffeine, on the other hand, can make energy drinks taste bitter.

Based on this, reducing the sugar and bitterness in the product and maintaining the energy supply has become a way to grow energy drink products, and has also fueled the development of related ingredients.

It is understood that a U.S. company has introduced a raw material in the market that helps maintain energy, ribose. The company personnel said that ribose is a monosaccharide, sweetness is about 60% of sucrose, but it is metabolized in a different way from sucrose, can reduce blood sugar levels, so that the body's cells produce enough adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a molecule that can deliver energy to the cells, thus providing the body with continuous energy.

Potential applications for ribose include: beverages, plant-based foods, yogurt, baked goods, oatmeal, fudge, chewing gum, etc.

Another U.S. company has introduced a less bitter, fully soluble powder containing natural caffeine that can be used in ready-to-drink beverages, pre-workout products, snacks, yogurt, gummies, capsules and tablets.

The raw material comes from the fruit or pulp of the coffee tree and is concentrated and standardized to provide 70 percent natural caffeine as well as 5 percent antioxidant polyphenols. The company said that in a sensory analysis, they found that the antioxidant compounds contained in the ingredient reduce the bitterness of caffeine.

American Burning Lux launched a sugar-free energy drink that contains L-citrulline as well as green tea extract.

The iterations and breakthroughs of ingredients are essential for an energy drink to gain market acceptance. When the opportunity arises, ingredient manufacturers need to continue to accelerate their research into quality ingredients for energy drinks in order to keep pace with the development of the energy drink market.