Beverage Digest is walking the show floor along with about 65,000 other attendees at Expo West in California this week. We'll investigate natural ingredient trends that could one day drive the growing and profitable functional packaged beverage market. We're also looking for what's new within existing ready-to-drink segments and product lines, and talking to the founders and leaders who propel the sector.

We'll share our observations in live updates here, so check back through the next couple of days.

Subscribers can email us if there is something specific you'd like to ask about. For those attending the show, feel free to send any noteworthy observations as well.

We’re excited to share with you details of this year’s Dec. 5 Future Smarts conference. The 2022 event will take place live and in person in New York City. The program features accomplished and knowledgeable experts in the world's most profitable beverage market. We’ve designed an outstanding program and speaker lineup to help shed light on this unprecedented time in the beverage industry - both the challenges and opportunities.

Through a series of fast-paced speaker interviews, we review the year to understand what mattered most and break new ground on what to expect next. We identify urgent trends and market forces that will drive business performance during the next three to five years – or longer.  Here’s a look at what to expect.

PepsiCo’s Gatorade, the fourth-largest liquid refreshment beverage brand in the US, is preparing to launch a caffeinated energy drink formulated specifically for athletes. The product, called Fast Twitch, could rightfully...

BD recently wrote about the U.S. launch of Air Up, the German maker of a refillable bottle that uses pods to flavor plain water by smell instead of taste. PepsiCo is an investor in the company, which describes its technology, based on a scientific concept called “retronasal smell,” this way: “The flavored air travels from your mouth up to your olfactory center, where it’s perceived as flavor.” From packaging to materials, Air Up embodies an assortment of beverage trends that resonate with Gen Z and Millennial consumers: Healthfulness, design, personalization, technology, and sustainability. To better understand the Air Up offering, BD bought and used the product, which the...