AI is reinventing every beverage link—concept, flavor, production, channel, consumer. PepsiCo rolls out Salesforce Agentforce, embedding autonomous AI agents. ChaPanda's "AI + DevOps" model uses LLMs to lift R&D efficiency by 24%. Live cases fuel a practical Beverage AI Transformation White Paper that merges trends with step-by-step guidance.

Global brands now tie functional beverage R&D to "precise, time-specific consumption." PepsiCo's prebiotic cola adds health to the classic "fun drink"; Ringa blends organic apple-cider vinegar, agave inulin, and moringa fiber into a zero-sugar, lightly sparkling drink. PepsiCo's Poppi mixes prebiotics, fruit, and soda to win Gen Z and hit $500 M in 2024. Nestlé's Boost Shot, a pre-meal drink for GLP-1 users, targets "hunger management." With broad claims fading, the next wave will be delivering the right bottle to the right person at the right moment.

When coffee brands miss the mark, the problem isn't just competition—it's a perception gap. Luckin locks in office workers with rapid launches, sharp value, and smooth ops. NOWWA breaks into China's top tier by selling a Gen-Z lifestyle. Nestlé keeps reinventing itself, linking coffee to daily rituals and emotions, staying forever young. How can any coffee rewrite its consumer dialogue to stand apart?

Facing parents' health concerns and kids' flavor preferences, brands must balance taste, nutrition, regulatory compliance, clear functionality, trust, and emotional appeal. Children's beverages have shifted from "adjunct" to "dedicated" products. Danone's Alpro launched a kids' plant-milk line; Tim Tam Tummy offers kombucha with 3B probiotics plus daily vitamin C; Coca-Cola's Honest Kids focuses on sugar- and preservative-free fruit drinks. Creating a "kids love it, parents trust it" system is now central to category growth.

(Image source: Rippla)

Herbal drinks beat "formulation fatigue" by sourcing rare botanicals, crafting synergistic blends, and locking in science—validated efficacy, standardized extraction, proven stability. Cold extraction, fermentation, and cross-category spins with sparkling water, dairy, or coffee refresh formats. The next growth leap belongs to whoever is most precise, verifiable, and enjoyable, not just healthiest. Mastering food-medicine homology rules, wielding data to win trust, and delivering sensory-rich, health-centric experiences will decide whether these beverages become a lasting category.

The 24-hour drinking cycle gives brands insight into consumers' daily rhythms and real motivations. Consumers now expect drinks to match time, context, and mood, not just taste or thirst-quenching. Mornings call for gentle water or wellness teas; lunch demands balanced flavors; afternoons favor floral, tea-forward, or functional drinks; evenings highlight non- or low-alcohol beverages for emotion and social connection. Beverages are becoming "moment-defined." This session uses trends and case studies to map demand, decode consumer psychology, and inspire time-sensitive product strategies.

Coconut water stands at a crossroads of opportunity and risk. Its market share in the beverage industry has gradually risen from 0.64% in Q3 2024 to 1% in Q2 2025. Early movers like IF leveraged health-focused claims such as "natural electrolytes" and "sports hydration" to capture market share, reaching over 55% and generating annual revenues exceeding ¥1 billion. Riding the trend, more than 50 brands, including Luckin, FreeNow, and Coconut Palm, have entered the segment, while retailers like Freshippo, Sam's Club, and 7Fresh push coconut water into the ¥9.9/L price range. Affordable pricing has driven sales but sparked consumer concerns over "pure, additive-free" authenticity. While low prices boost volume, they risk eroding brand credibility and consumer trust. What will define the next growth curve for coconut water?

Plant-based beverages are upgrading from 1.0 to 2.0. Once marketed as "dairy alternatives" for hypoallergenic or low-fat benefits, plant-protein drinks were largely compensatory. Now, new-generation milks like oat and almond are surging, injecting fresh momentum. U.S. leader Califia Farms® launched Califia Farms Complete, delivering 8 g protein, all essential amino acids, and innovations using cashews and chickpeas. With global alternative-protein CAGR at 14.1% and China's plant-milk market projected above ¥300 B by 2025, brands that define "Plant Protein 2.0" first will capture the next billion-yuan wave.

(Image source: Califia Farms)

As mass-market teas lose appeal, RTD innovation pivots to regional flavors. ChaPanda blends glutinous rice + soy milk in Southwest China; Good Me uses dried-tangerine oolong and rice-water bases in Fujian/Guangdong; Mixue Ice Tea's peanut-red-date-millet drinks hit Henan fields via "wheat field delivery"; Guizhou's Qu Cha Shan taps local crops, serving 400 cups/h; Heytea's "Inspiration Tea" spans Sichuan pepper Dianhong to Tibetan Plateau Litsea cubeba papaya. This session maps how "regionalized flavor" unlocks local markets and consumer love for ready-to-drink teas.

Turmeric, known as the "Golden Spice of the East," has long been a star ingredient in the U.S., Europe, and Japan for joint health, liver support, and systemic anti-inflammatory benefits. Since 2010, when North America elevated turmeric from a "curry colorant" to the "gold standard of anti-inflammation," it has sparked a global wave of plant-based functional ingredients. China is quickly catching up: brands like Swisse, By-Health, and Tongrentang have launched products spanning capsules, gummies, oral liquids, and ready-to-drink solid beverages, continually innovating formats. Yet, the ingredient's inherent bitterness remains a barrier. Who can craft a turmeric beverage that makes consumers reach for a second sip? Chinese taste buds are waiting to be captivated.

HPP juice brands like VCLEANSE and IF now exceed RMB 500 million in annual sales. Freshippo's HPP Red Apple Juice grew 400% YoY in 2024, while new HPP shots often sell out. As superfoods like turmeric, ginger, and spirulina trend, HPP is expanding beyond fruits and vegetables. The challenge: using this technology to balance function with flavor innovation.

Ice cup sales are booming, with Freshippo, Nongfu Spring, and Lawson joining the trend. By June 2025, coffee ice-cup sales rose 60% YoY, fueling a new "ice-cup-plus-beverage" wave in coffee and tea. Commercial ice uses slow-flow freezing and layered techniques to create dense, slow-melting ice. Durable cups and heat-shrink lids ensure stability at -18 °C to -20 °C. Korea's GS25 pioneered the format in 2021 with its 7 cm Big Ball ice cup. This session highlights innovations in ice making and how ice cups are reshaping beverage consumption.

Carbonated beverages remain a key battlefield in the beverage industry, as evidenced by Nongfu Spring's sparkling iced tea, Dayao's annual sales exceeding 3 billion units, and Pepsi's 100,000-ton expansion project. The challenge lies in seamlessly integrating complex multi-flavor profiles with carbonation while maintaining CO₂ stability and long-lasting effervescence in tea, juice, or dairy-based formulas.

Developing functional sparkling beverages requires more than "adding ingredients"—it means balancing function, taste, and production stability. OLIPOP offers a research-driven model: focusing on gut health, the team partnered with Purdue and Baylor to create the patented OLISmart formula, combining 9–12 g of prebiotic fiber with plant bioactives. Natural sweeteners and fruit juice deliver low sugar without losing carbonation enjoyment. R&D solved solubility and flavor-stability challenges, enabling smooth scale-up. This session explores OLIPOP's path from patented formula to commercial success and the future of functional sparkling drinks.

(Image source: OLIPOP)

The rapid rise of HPP (High Pressure Processing) beverages has drawn wide industry attention, but HPP faces limits such as long cycles, high energy use, and scalability issues. PEF (Pulsed Electric Field) offers a faster, more efficient alternative: by applying short, high-voltage pulses to juice flow, it instantly disrupts microbial membranes, enabling sterilization within microseconds and continuous production. Compared with HPP, PEF consumes less energy and better preserves juice color, aroma, and nutrients. This session examines PEF's principles, applications, and outlook, highlighting its promise and challenges for the juice sector.

IWSR projects global low- and no-alcohol beverage sales will grow by $4 B by 2028. Suntory leads innovation with its ALL-FREE line, using plant extracts to build layered taste and "everyday drinkable" appeal. Asahi Zero surpassed 600,000 cases in 2024, doubling output to meet rising demand. De Soi, a French-style non-alcoholic sparkling brand, uses botanicals to offer a "lightly tipsy" experience. No-alcohol drinks are evolving beyond substitutes, establishing a "fourth occasion" between tea, soft drinks, and alcohol through plant extracts and natural fermentation.

(Image source: Suntory)

In the Starbucks-and-Luckin price-speed race, Peet's Coffee takes a measured approach. Skipping low-price promos and gimmicky menus, it builds trust with hand-brewed coffee from beans roasted within 21 days. In China, its "less-but-better" line, small-batch roasting, and in-store experiences drove double-digit 2024 sales growth and a 23.8% organic EBIT increase—proving growth beyond price wars and scale is possible.

The new generation of consumers demands more from "drinking water": it must hydrate while delighting the senses, be guilt-free yet full of flavor. KDP's Stur leverages a "zero sugar + real fruit extract" proposition to secure a leading position in the "natural water enhancer" segment. Meanwhile, Waterdrop innovates through flavor, offering 25 flavor cubes that transform drinking water from a basic necessity into a frequent, enjoyable ritual. How can flavored water deliver a rich sensory experience without compromising health? And how can flexible delivery formats promote more frequent, "on-the-go" hydration behaviors?

Freshippo's Turmeric, Ginger & Lemon Juice shot has gone viral, with its 100 ml concentrated formula attracting more than 2,000 repeat monthly buyers and topping the refrigerated-drink repurchase charts. In the UK, MOJU leveraged HPP for functional juices, reaching £20 million in 2023 with 71% year-on-year growth and a 62% market share. In 2025, Suntory's GINGER SHOT+ combined 100% concentrated juice with premium ginger for both sensory impact and daily wellness benefits.What drives the success of "shot-style functional drinks"?

With rising demand for low-sugar, low-calorie, naturally fermented drinks, De La Calle introduced Tepache—the traditional Mexican pineapple fermentation—in a packaged format to the U.S. market. Positioned in the health-beverage segment, the brand grew 100% in 2022 and quickly entered major retailers like Target, Whole Foods, and Kroger. Beyond health and innovation, De La Calle delivers cultural value, letting consumers experience Mexican tradition and lifestyle, elevating the brand from simply "selling products" to "sharing culture."

DFSY, after a two-year hiatus, launched its "Chenpi White Tea," combining premium white tea with aged tangerine peel to deliver a fresh and approachable flavor in a niche segment. Master Kong entered the segment with "Fresh Green Tea," leveraging low-temperature fresh-brewing techniques to enhance tea aroma. "Ripe Fruit" distinguished itself with a floral tea base and a smooth, naturally sweet profile, becoming the only top-five brand to achieve four consecutive quarters of growth.

This session will focus on flavor optimization and health functionality in unsweetened teas, exploring how brands can overcome the "low-sugar, bland taste" challenge and identify the next wave of growth within a mature market.