The food and drink industry is undergoing some major changes this year as they work to keep up with evolving consumer demands. You’ll find that millennials are shaping more than just the travel industry and quite honestly, the changes are all pretty positive.
From a shift in focus to sustainability across the board to a more developed look at what constitutes “healthy” beverages, there’s a lot of trends in the beverage industry you’re going to want to follow in 2020.
From kombucha to Instagrammable wine and straight through to some of the most intriguing non-alcoholic cocktails you’ve probably ever tasted, here are seven beverage industry trends that’ll have an impact on the industry in 2020.
Beverage Industry Trends 2020
1. Less Plastic
One of the biggest trends in pretty much every industry in 2020 is a focus on sustainability. In the beverage industry, this means less plastic. You’ll find fewer companies using single-use plastic bottles. And, you can also expect to see businesses looking for ways to cut down on excess packaging as well.
2. Kombucha Becomes A Staple
Kombucha and other fermented teas became popular a few years back. And, while most industry experts thought it might have been a fad, expect it to become a staple in 2020. However, Yelp did a study that also noted that “hard,” boozy kombucha might be on the rise as well. Reviews on Yelp mentioning “hard kombucha” were up 377% in the past 12 months.
3. Focus On Convenience
Let’s face it. In 2020, consumers crave convenience. While this has been a beverage industry trend for quite a while now, it’ll hit even harder this year. Ready-to-consume lattes, cold brew coffees, and even cold-pressed juices will become more popular than they have been in past years. And, we’re not exactly complaining about that.
4. Glitter Wine
Due to the popularity of Instagrammable drinks, supermarkets and bars are seeing an increase in the interest of glitter wine or even glitter-filled fizzers. The latter is something you can drop into your drink to make it fizz up like a bath bomb. Glitter wine is, well, extremely attractive and swirly glitter-filled wine.
5. More Milk Alternatives
Sure, you walk into any Starbucks or major coffee shop in North America or Europe nowadays and you’ll likely find that they offer, at the very minimum, almond and soy milk. However, one of the biggest beverage industry trends in 2020 to follow is the rise in even more milk alternatives. Expect to see more coconut, rice, hemp, and oat milk.
6. Drink Mashups
Like every popular song nowadays, except drinks in 2020 to come with a “feat.” label. This year, it’s all about the mashups. From cold-brew coffee ft. maple water to iced tea ft. sparkling water and even coffee ft. CBD, there’ll be a lot of new, unique drinks out on the market in 2020. As for whether or not they’ll stick around…you’ll have to check back in 2021.
7. Coffee-Based Cocktails
The Culinary & Cocktails Trend Forecast revealed that lower-alcohol spritzes will become a big food trend to follow in 2020. However, this extends to include coffee-based cocktails as well. Move over espresso martini. Make way for other espresso-based drinks, both alcoholic and not, such as the Espresso Tonic or nitro cold brew drinks that are spiced up with a little something special.