Natural Food Colourings For Sports & Energy Drinks
Consumers increasingly watch out for what they eat and drink. The way beverage products are formulated and the type of ingredients that go into a recipe thus receive increasing attention. As part of a broad emphasis on following a balanced and nutritious diet, consumers are particularly interested in beverages that are beneficial to their physical and/ or mental health.
In Poland, 35% of consumers of sports and energy drinks are interested in products that support their brain function. In Italy, 40% of performance drinks customers pay attention to products that supports their immune system.
Flavour as Purchase Driver in Performance Drinks
Key innovation themes among sports and energy drink launches in 2023 are nutrient fortification, sugar reduction, and the ongoing trend towards naturalness – yet taste continues to be of paramount importance and should not get compromised. In fact, launches of unflavoured energy drinks continue to decrease in Europe. In Italy, for example, 83% of consumers reported that they would like to try new flavours in their sports and energy drinks. Launches of sports and energy drinks continue to be led by fruit flavours, such as berry and citrus flavours.
As boundaries amongst beverage categories blur and innovations are inspired by concepts from other sub-segments, lemonade flavours, for instance, could have the sweetness, pungency, and adaptability to expand into energy drinks. In the US, 47% of category users would like to try it in energy drinks.
In sports and performance drinks, innovations based on “better-for-you” concept ideas result in new and exciting products launches. Claims that included a “better-for-you” or “organic” cue or recorded a significant increase among energy drink launches in Europe. Choosing clean label solutions start to become a clear trend in the market’s launch activities.
Sports drink launches claiming “no artificial colours” were twice as common in 2022 vs 2019.
Mintel 2023
Colour’s Importance
in Sports and Energy Drinks
Colour adds value to sports and performance drinks. Natural food colouring solutions enrich the perceived and actual flavour profile that consumers expect. And the colour of the sports or energy drink has an important influence on product appeal and product associations. From bold reds and juicy pinks to energetic or immunity-signalling oranges and yellows, consumers are looking for a variety of concepts in which the vibrant colours subconsciously support the product in terms of refreshment cues and overall appeal.
Powdered Sports and Energy Drinks:
Microfine™ in ‘Action’
Within sports drinks, powdered sports drinks are a major format in the European market. They are easy to store, prepare and can be customized to the required level of recovery or performance need. Supporting powdered formats, natural colouring solutions need to perform well in both the instant solution, as well as the final drink. Colouring foods or natural colours with plating characteristics are critical in order to receive a vibrant, homogenously coloured powder.
Discover Sensient’s Microfine™ range that delivers intense and homogeneous natural alternatives to synthetic lakes in powder products and bright, vibrant colour shades in final beverage solution. This advanced natural colouring solution uniformly blends in sports drinks powders or tablets and coats the product with an evenly distributed colour. They also provide quick solubility after the powdered beverage has been hydrated. Sensient’s Microfine™ is the perfect solution for your coloured drinks.
Explore our naturally vibrant colour shades for distinct looks in sports and energy drinks here:
If you want to get your project started and would like to discuss colour solutions with us, reach out and request a consult with our technical experts anytime. To sample any colour shade from our natural rainbow, request a sample here.
References
Mintel: A year of innovation in sports and energy drinks, 2023
Mintel: Sports and Energy Drinks – UK – 2023
