What active ingredients are on the rise? Here's an in-depth dive into Perrin Gerber's interview on what the next five years will bring to the functional beverage industry.
Watch the full interview
The world of functional beverages is expanding faster than ever before. Consumers are looking to take their wellness on the go via great-tasting and reliable functional beverages, from protein powders to nootropic RTDs. Easier said than done. The accompanying R&D challenges and pitfalls are complex, but not impossible.
Today, we will dive into the trending active ingredients, how to overcome formulation and current industry challenges, and what’s next for functional beverage innovation.
These new “smart drugs” are used to enhance cognitive functions like memory, focus, mental clarity, and overall brain health. Put simply? “If I were asked what a nootropic is, I would just say it’s a substance that helps your brain,” Perrin explains.
Consumers want an easy way to incorporate health and wellness into their everyday lives without hassle or disruption. Being able to take care of yourself while simultaneously enjoying a delicious drink is easy and convenient. It’s the main reason why functional beverages are gaining popularity.
There are countless nootropics breaking into the functional beverage market, so let’s break it down:
While nootropics are trending, ashwagandha is rising above the rest. This popular adaptogen has been used as a functional ingredient in beverages for over a decade. However, it wasn’t until 2021 when The Coca-Cola Company launched Smartwater+, “a new lineup of infused hydration options featuring unique ingredient pairings and real flavour extracts tailored for specific wellness occasions,” that Ashwagandha was adopted on a large scale in the functional beverage industry (Coca-Cola Launches Premium Wellness Flavoured Waters).
The reason for the high demand for ashwagandha is because it is a multifaceted functional ingredient.
“Ashwagandha is a really unique ingredient, because the benefits of it are so wide-ranging, from stress reduction to hormone improvement, muscle mass to sexual function.”
— Perrin Gerber, Director of Product Development and Commercialization
According to Karin Elgar’s study, Ashwagandha: A Review of Clinical Use and Efficacy in the Nutritional Medicine Journal, this adaptogen can positively affect the following:
The Neuropharmacology journal stated in their study on paraxanthine, “Caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive substance in the world.” Whether it’s in coffee, tea, soda, energy drinks, yerba mate, or chocolate, humans love caffeine. So why are consumers searching for caffeine alternatives?
Simple. Consumers want the benefits of caffeine without the side effects. Paraxanthine offers a clean-label, energy-boosting caffeine alternative without the downsides. As Perrin points out, “[Paraxanthine is] the metabolite from caffeine that gives you all the benefits of caffeine without any of the negative side effects.”
Concerns surrounding caffeine include:
Perrin continues, “Caffeine helps in the short term, but it’s not something you can continually take, habitually, because it will spike your cortisol.” Paraxanthine provides the boost in energy without the crash.
Protein drinks are no longer limited to chocolate, vanilla, or indulgent flavors. The long-standing, staple beverage in the sports nutrition space got revamped in recent years with clear protein. According to Grand View Research, “The global clear whey protein market size was estimated at USD 2.72 billion in 2023 and is expected to expand at a [compound annual growth rate] of 6.7% from 2024 to 2030.”
Developments in clear whey protein isolates, like BLG-100, allow new formulation methods to transform the texture and flavor profiles. Because clear protein can withstand higher acid levels, formulators can utilize juicy, fruity, and refreshing flavor profiles in their formulas. By withstanding higher acid levels and providing more stability, clear protein is opening the doorway for fun new flavors such as:
Building a beverage with functional, active ingredients is hard. There are complications, challenges, roadblocks, and unknowns at every stage of formulation. We’ve broken down the top challenges formulators face when building a functional beverage and how to fix them.
Each active ingredient presents a different set of solubility issues. In fact, solubility is one of the most significant challenges facing beverage formulation. Building a beverage with active ingredients that don’t dissolve can affect stability, taste, and the overall consumer experience.
Here are some common active ingredients, the challenges they pose to solubility, and some simple solutions to avoid a poorly formulated product.
As a flavor house, we have an edge when it comes to formulating great-tasting products. Perrin said, “A lot of these adaptogens have unique flavors, and brands need to be aware of how all of those things are going to intersect and play.” Functional ingredients aren’t popular because they taste good. They’re popular because of what they can do, and it’s the role of a formulator to turn those harsh flavors into a delicious beverage.
So, where to start? We spoke with Tanner Isom, a Product Development Manager here at Sensapure, and asked him about his approach to working with bad-tasting active ingredients.
“You’re dealing with a lot of uniquely bad-tasting stuff, and they have off notes. They have their own characteristics—you first start with seeing what can’t be taken away. This is a hard thing for people new to the industry to understand—some flavors, some off-notes, of functional ingredients can’t be completely eradicated.”
He continues by giving an example of using marine collagen in a product. Did you know marine collagen tastes like fish? That’s right—the supplement that helps your skin and hair is a bit fishy. In flavor, that is. So how can you transform the strong flavor of salmon into fruit punch? Unless you like the odds of marketing ‘Cherry Orange Salmon,’ you don’t. Gross.
Instead, ask yourself, what flavors do you expect to taste when eating salmon? A nice ‘Lemon Pepper Salmon’ isn’t just easier to market—it’s delicious! “Appropriating” or utilizing the unique flavors of the actives to your advantage is the best place to start when building a delicious functional beverage.
Flavor, flavor, flavor: it all comes down to flavor. As Perrin says, “You can get anybody to buy a product once. What you're looking for is a repeat purchase. You need that first experience to be amazing.”
Formulation challenges aren’t just about what ingredients are used, but also where those ingredients come from. Building a functional beverage on a large scale requires global support. We asked Perrin what the industry-wide risks are to building a functional beverage, and he stated:
“Some of the sourcing challenges that we face right now? Tariffs are a big one. Prices are going up, and that shifts where you would look to source it from. And then the question is, does it taste the same if you’re going to replace it? Let’s say you’re getting a green tea extract from China: does it taste the same coming from a different country with different growing conditions? That can be a big risk.”
He goes on to explain that the best solution to this problem is to utilize a triangle test: a sensory analysis tool offered through Sensory Quant. By comparing samples of the same formula with two differently sourced ingredients, Sensory Quant ensures there are no noticeable taste differences.
Perrin is quite familiar with the process. “A triangle test is basically where you take two samples that are exactly the same and then add a third sample that might taste different. The goal of it is to see whether or not people can tell the difference.”
When a product passes a triangle test, it means a statistically significant number of panelists were unable to detect a taste difference between the two differently sourced ingredients.
Owning your own formula is crucial for brands looking to scale and maintain consistency, especially when working with contract manufacturers. Without control over the formula, brands risk losing their product’s unique taste and quality when switching manufacturers or facing supply chain challenges.
The advice we offer aspiring brands is to own your own formula. There may come a day when you outgrow your current contract manufacturer and need to switch to grow your business. If you own your own formula, the switch is simple. If not, you are practically back to square one in terms of rebuilding the product.
Perrin emphasizes the importance of owning the formula and controlling production processes, but also discusses his experience in rescuing brands that didn’t have that initial foresight: “What I’ve been able to do is help brands reverse engineer their products with the taste staying intact.”
This is another issue that can be solved by sensory analysis and testing. By using tools like Sensory Quant, Sensapure has been able to help brands maintain the integrity of their formulations even when switching manufacturers.
“I would say the number one way to make sure that your beverage tastes amazing is to conduct sensory panels,” Perrin advises. He often sees brands making all their decisions with one person, aka, “The King Taster.” But that kind of flavor dictatorship is doomed to fail. Expensively.
“The more disciplined brands will conduct sensory panels to ensure that the product actually stands out in the marketplace,” Perrin continues. “Because they are obsessed with making sure that their product is the best tasting.”
Sensapure created Sensory Quant to do just that. With a variety of blind taste tests, from triangle to preference to JAR (just about right), Sensory Quant can determine exactly what consumers like and dislike about a product. For example, maybe the acidity and sweetness are just right, but consumers don’t like the mouthfeel. With over 550 active lifestyle panelists, Sensory Quant's data is always statistically reliable.
“If you want data that shows our product tastes better than all the other products that are out there, that’s what we can do.”
— Perrin Gerber, Director of Product Development and Commercialization
As the functional beverage space continues to grow, the next step is building beverages that offer a full wellness experience—products that go beyond traditional functionality to deliver mood enhancement, cognitive support, and even subtle mind-altering effects in a safe, controlled format.
Perrin predicts a shift toward nootropics, adaptogen stacks, and caffeine-free energy solutions as consumers seek performance benefits without overstimulating side effects. At Sensapure, we’re already exploring these innovations with partners ready to lead the next wave of functional beverages. Whether you're looking to reduce caffeine, build gut health, or create a brand-defining taste profile, the next step starts with collaboration, science, and bold formulation.
Active ingredient innovation is pushing the boundaries of what functional beverages can do—from stress support with ashwagandha, to clean energy from paraxanthine, to refreshing proteins from clear whey isolates. But innovation is just the beginning. Great taste, reliable sourcing, and formula ownership are what separate a fleeting trend from a blockbuster hit.
