"Beverages with benefits", promising clearer skin, improved concentration and better gut health, are leading a soft drink revolution
The functional beverage sector exploded in popularity in 2022, with the $451 million Australian market set to more than double this year.
The purported benefits of these drinks run from "better-for-you" soft drink alternatives, such as Bobby, which features lower calories, lower sugar and prebiotic fibre, to products such as Arepa which promises improved cognitive performance under stress.
They're appealing to a growing number of consumers (mostly women aged between 20 and 40) who have become increasingly health-conscious in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The functional beverages space is still in its infancy in Australia, but major retailers realise it's an important growth area," says Troy Douglas, co-founder of sugar-free drink company Nexba.
Entrepreneur Kristian Johannsen launched Bobby last May, hoping to entice consumers away from traditional soft drinks with familiar flavours (cola, orange and lemon) and a healthier ingredients list.
"The functional beverages space is still in its infancy in Australia, but major retailers realise it's an important growth area."
Troy Douglas
"We're very vocal about the fact it isn't a supplement for a healthy, balanced diet ... but we're confident it will promote a healthy gut, with less bloating."
By making Bobby available in 7 Eleven stores nationwide, Johannsen hopes selecting a healthier option will become as convenient as Coca-Cola, Fanta or Solo.
Dietitian and director of The Good Nutrition Company Nicole Dynan says the prebiotic fibre used in Bobby is made from a hydrolysed guar gum and has been shown to have some success in regulating bowel health.
"It's legit," Dynan says. "Bobby is largely made from natural ingredients, so I can see it fitting as a slightly healthier alternative to soft drink."
Sydney-based Nexba partnered with Woolworths to launch a range of drinks aimed at boosting skin health, immunity, gut function and focus.
Their biggest seller is Gut, one of the only products to have received approval from Food Standards Australia New Zealand to say its fortified probiotics promote good gut health.
Such a claim is usually a red flag, says Dietitians Australia spokeswoman Jane Freeman.
"The passage through to the gut is pretty treacherous and companies have to put in billions and billions of probiotics in hopes that just some make it through," she says.
Kreol, a family-run drink company based in Melbourne's Glen Iris, has taken another approach.
Its fruit-based sparkling water drink boasts 30 per cent of the recommended daily intake of vitamin C, boosted beyond traditional juice or soft drink with grapeseed extract and reknowned superfood Barbados cherries, packed with antioxidants.
"Most of our customers have converted from typical soft drinks or traded up from juice," says co-founder Chloe Rush.
Vijay Jayasena is a professor of nutrition and food science at Western Sydney University. He says antioxidant-rich additives can be beneficial, so long as they come from natural sources.
NZ-based "brain food" company Arepa formulated their 'Performance' drink in conjunction with leading neuroscientist Professor Andrew Scholey. The final product, five years in the making, features blackcurrants, l-theanine (an amino acid found in green tea) and a pine bark extract.
Arepa has since spent more than $4 million ($700,000 from the Dementia Centre for Research Collaboration and a significant portion from government grants) on scientific research, seeking to establish claims of enhanced memory, focus, brain blood circulation and mood.
A current study undertaken by the University of Wollongong aims to determine whether Arepa could help prevent dementia symptoms.
"People were really sceptical of a product like ours if we weren't backed by science, and rightfully so," says co-founder Angus Brown. "Investing in science has really helped catapult us to where we are now."
Annual revenue for the drink stood at $11 million in 2022. Google co-founder Larry Page is reportedly one of its high-profile customers.
But Brown says the average person probably won't feel the benefits as keenly as someone suffering from poor diet, poor sleep or increased stress.
"We get a good percent of return sales from them because they can actually feel the benefit," he says.
Dynan says she'll be watching Arepa's progress with interest.
"It does have polyphenols and l-theanine for [combatting] stress but it also has around 3.5 teaspoons of sugar per bottle," she says.
"It's an interesting one because they're actually trying to get some research done around it.
"At the end of the day you might enjoy these drinks for a bit of a boost once in a while but not one food or drink will save you. Overall diet quality is key."
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