How beverage brands are innovating with superfood

With the impact of Covid-19, health has become a priority for everyone. More and more people are becoming health conscious and are switching to healthier eating habits. This also means that people are now adopting healthier ingredients and ready-to-eat products.

One popular healthy choice these days is superfoods. The superfood trend is impacting everything from dining to business. The market segment for these delicious foods is growing by the day. However, we should first understand what is it that makes superfoods in demand. Superfoods are foods that offer maximum nutritional benefits packed in the minimum amount of calories. These are foods that have high nutrient value i.e high vitamin, mineral and antioxidants. While most foods contain vitamins and minerals, they lack antioxidants.   This makes superfoods very popular. Consuming antioxidants helps improve immunity and reduces the risk of diseases and overall mortality. Superfoods also contribute to good skin, nail and hair health. They also help in maintaining a healthy weight. Bananas, berries, leafy vegetables, grapes, soy, turmeric, nuts are some common superfoods that have immense benefits.

Innovating with beverages

Keeping in mind the need to make food healthy as well as delicious, various beverage brands are not coming up with innovative flavours and ingredients for their products which is making it easier for people to consume nutrients in a fast paced lifestyle. Berries are one of the most widely used superfoods in the beverage industry. The high levels of flavonoids in berries help in preventing heart attacks. Raspberries, blueberries, cranberries, acai berries and goji berries are some superfood berries. Berry flavoured shakes, smoothies, and juices are on the rise.

Teas these days are also using superfoods. Tea in itself it considered a superfood as it is disease preventing. Superfoods like turmeric are being used in tea and coffee. One good example is McDonalds India, where one can now find beverages like Turmeric Latte and Masala kadak chai infused with superfood ingredients like ginger, cloves etc. Apart from this, the tea industry is also seeing a rapid rise in demand for matcha green tea - another superfood. Teas with chia seeds, moringa green tea and white tea are also new blends that people are enjoying consuming. Rich in polyphenols, black tea and oolong tea are now considered as healing teas that have the ability to remove all toxins from the body. All these superfood teas are being mixed with various other natural ingredients in order to make them flavourful and delicious. Bubble tea and boba tea infused with different superfood berries is also a common choice among people.

Walnut and almonds are also superfoods which are now making the kashmiri kahwa tea popular globally. Honey-almond and honey-walnut flavoured tea are just two among the wide-variety of options different brands are creating. Cinnamon another superfood with multiple healing properties is also being widely used to enrich flavours. Other interesting superfoods like dragonfruit, pomegranate, wheatgrass and pumpkin seeds are accounting for the innovation taking place in the beverage industry.

The usage of superfoods in beverages is on the rise. Brands are creating newer options for consumers to choose from so that a healthy lifestyle can be easily be maintained.