Functional products have seen some of the most rapid growth within the food and beverage industry in recent years, and one of the most successful categories have been those enriched with biotics, whether probiotics, prebiotics, postbiotics or synbiotics.
The beverage category has seen some of the most advanced innovation in this regard, with science advances and new tech playing a major role.
“Within the functional beverages sector, I think particular attention has definitely been given to areas such as probiotics and postbiotics, and this shift is being driven by a few key factors,” Suntory Oceania Senior Manager of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs Dr Lesley Stevenson told FoodNavigator-Asia.
“The first is definitely the advancement in technology surrounding these ingredients, which has translated to these being able to be more efficiently added into non-alcoholic drinks whilst still able to remain stable within these drinks and deliver the benefits they are supposed to.
“Another factor is because the science is improving, where new data is constantly emerging about the different biotic strains and their benefits.
“Consumers are also [increasingly] familiar with this category and [that] beverages are a good, efficient format to bring these functional benefits to them.”
All of this is of course being driven by constant consumer demands for healthier products, which she argues is no longer just a trend but an expectation.
“We are not just seeing this in functional beverages per se, but across the beverage category in various forms - for example plant-based dairy alternatives like soy and almond milk are still gaining in popularity across APAC,” she said.
“Then there is also the increasing demand for reduced sugar or zero-sugar beverages, which is another category that is also rapidly evolving due to technology improvements.”
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