Food (and Drink) for Thought

by Mike Straus | June 1, 2026

Food and beverage ingredients are diversifying and becoming more complex.

Functional food and beverage ingredients are continuing to evolve into high-potency, application-specific products tailored to consumers’ needs. These ingredients are increasingly backed by more and more scientific documentation than ever before, validating health claims with clinical data. Ingredients are also advancing in terms of tolerability, texture, taste and stability, making for superior products that consumers can enjoy. These products are appealing to discerning consumers who are more aware than ever of what they’re putting in their bodies, meeting a growing need for wellness-oriented products that can easily fit into a busy lifestyle. As the functional food and beverage market grows, more diverse ingredients will find their way into food and drink products. Here are just some of the emerging trends driving the functional food and beverage space.

Consumers Demand Sophisticated Products

Consumers are increasingly seeking out products that do far more than provide basic nutrition. Mark Cope, nutrition scientist—protein solutions at ingredient supplier IFF in New York, NY, said that consumers are looking for foods and beverages that do more than provide basic nutrition—they want everyday products that support energy, satiety, muscle health, longevity and overall well-being. This shift, Cope explained, is being driven by preventive health mindsets, busy lifestyles, and a desire to get functional benefits from familiar food formats rather than supplements.

Martin Schweizer is the vice president of technical development at ingredient supplier Burcon NutraScience Corporation in Vancouver, Canada. Burcon offers 90 percent purity clean pea, sunflower, canola and fava bean plant proteins. Schweizer said that consumers are increasingly focused on proactive wellness, particularly GLP-1 users who are prioritizing nutrient density and protein intake in smaller, more efficient portions.

“Consumers are looking for products that align with broader values around sustainability, clean-label and plant-based nutrition,” Schweizer said. “This is pushing manufacturers to rethink technical formulations and move toward ingredients that are both nutritionally robust and environmentally responsible. Functional foods and beverages have emerged as leading formats because they offer convenience while serving as an effective delivery system for targeted nutrition.”

ADM Senior Director of Marketing for North America – Health & Wellness Vaughn DuBow in Decatur, IL said that consumer demand for functional ingredients is being driven by a dual focus on wellness goals and a desire for enjoyable sensory experiences.

“Biotics and microbiome solutions are a growing area of opportunity to support health-conscious consumers across all food and beverage categories,” DuBow explained. “An expanding body of evidence highlights the role of gut microbiome solutions, including prebiotic fiber, probiotics and postbiotics, to support various aspects of well-being. This research has identified these connections as ‘gut-organ axes,’ such as the gut-brain axis, gut-skin axis and gut-muscle axis. Connecting biotics, whether that be postbiotics or pre- or probiotics, to these specific wellness goals via ongoing research into the various gut-organ axes will lead to large scale innovation in the future.”

Meanwhile, mood support, muscle health, gut health and the search for alcohol alternatives are all driving innovation in functional food and beverages, explained Keely Johnson, vice president of sales and marketing for ingredient supplier Arjuna Natural in Irving, TX. Johnson explained that overall concerns of mental health are considered to be at an all-time high, driving demand for calming, relaxing and mood-balancing products. Johnson said that for this reason, ingredients like ashwagandha are expected to be breakout ingredients in 2026.

Jack Helm, an account manager for beverage, bakery and functional foods at ACI Group in the United Kingdom, noted that demand for functional food and beverage ingredients is being driven by lifestyle integration. Consumers, he noted, are not only looking for a product with a healthy position in isolation but with functionality that is embedded into the daily formats they already consume across beverages, snacks and even meal replacements.

“Macro trends will continue to accelerate this shift,” Helm said. “Rising awareness of chronic conditions such as obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes is pushing consumers toward preventative approaches. In addition, mental well-being has become a central pillar of health, with increasing interest in mood, focus and stress management. Clean-label expectations are also playing a critical role. Today’s consumer is highly informed and increasingly skeptical. They are looking for transparency, natural positioning and ingredients that are both recognizable and scientifically credible.”

Functional Food and Drink Ingredients Become More Complex

Emerging functional food and beverage ingredients are becoming more complex and diverse as ingredient suppliers work to address a growing consumer base. Charlotte Wallart, food product manager for Nexira in France, said that consumers are increasingly paying closer attention to ultra-processed products and ingredient lists they don’t understand, which is driving demand for simpler labels and recognizable ingredients.

“At the same time, we’re seeing strong innovation in multi-functional ingredients—solutions that combine technical performance with health benefits,” Wallart explained. “For example, acacia fiber enables digestive health positioning while also contributing to sugar reduction and mouthfeel in applications like healthy snacks or beverages.”

Cope said that he’s seeing strong momentum toward ingredients that deliver demonstrated benefits while fitting seamlessly into everyday foods. He cited the example of plant-based proteins, which are advancing in quality, digestibility and functionality.

Schweizer noted that next-generation plant proteins are one of the most important advances in food and beverage ingredients in recent years, overcoming the longstanding taste, texture and aroma challenges of earlier plant-based proteins.

“Historically, plant proteins often required masking agents due to off flavors, poor solubility or undesirable texture,” Schweizer said. “Today, new extraction and purification technologies are enabling superior proteins with 90 percent purity that deliver neutral taste, light color and excellent functionality, making them far more viable for beverage applications.”

This shift is significant, he said, because it allows formulators to incorporate meaningful levels of protein into food and beverage formulations without compromising on sensory experience or label simplicity. High-purity plant proteins can now contribute to smooth mouthfeel, stability and nutritional density in both powdered and ready-to-drink formats, while simultaneously offering complete amino acid profiles.

Philip Caputo, marketing and consumer insights manager for Virginia Dare in Carteret, NJ, said that consumer awareness around functional ingredients is rapidly growing as a result of new factors like clinical data, widespread access to information through digital platforms, and product adoption by health influencers.

“As consumer recognition of the benefits of functional ingredients increases, it leads to the migration of these ingredients from dietary supplements in pill and capsule form to functional foods and beverages,” Caputo explained. “Ingredients such as shilajit, saffron, mushroom extracts, creatine, acetyl l-carnitine and magnesium are showing increased use in functional foods and beverages, which is creating new flavor challenges. If traditional masking techniques are unsuccessful, we have a continued commitment to develop new masking flavors to meet the taste challenges that arise.”

Safety and Efficacy Take Center Stage

Schweizer said that safety and efficacy remain foundational to the success of any functional ingredient, with expectations in this arena continuing to rise. Consumers, he said, are increasingly informed and discerning, looking beyond marketing claims to understand whether ingredients genuinely deliver measurable benefits.

“In the case of protein, efficacy is closely tied to quality, specifically amino acid composition, digestibility and bioavailability,” Schweizer said. “Burcon’s next-generation plant proteins have made significant strides in this regard. Advances in processing have improved both digestibly and protein quality, with some of our plant-based proteins now achieving PDCAAS scores comparable to dairy and egg. From a safety perspective, plant proteins derived from well-established agricultural sources offer a high level of consumer trust.”

Cope, meanwhile, said that today’s leading functional ingredients are increasingly supported by scientific validation and safety assessments. This is important, he said, because safety and efficacy must go hand-in-hand for functional products to build consumer trust.

“Soy protein is one of the most extensively studied plant proteins globally, with decades of research supporting their nutritional value and their role in supporting muscle health, satiety and heart-healthy diets when used appropriately,” Cope said. “That depth of science gives manufacturers confidence to use soy protein to deliver meaningful benefits without compromising on taste or versatility.”

Manufacturer Considerations for Formulating Food & Drink Products

Functional food and beverage manufacturers have a number of factors to consider when formulating new products, including emerging challenges that come with incorporating new ingredients. DuBow said that in order for a product to appeal to consumers, each aspect of the sensory experience must be considered, from visual appeal to flavor to mouthfeel. This means choosing the right ingredients for the application.

“Postbiotics offer a major advantage over probiotics because they are inherently far more stable and versatile across applications,” DuBow explained. “Unlike probiotics, which contain live microorganisms that must remain viable through manufacturing, storage and delivery, postbiotics are inanimate microorganisms and are therefore not nearly as vulnerable to environmental stressors such as heat, moisture, oxygen, light, pressure or low pH. That stability gives formulators much greater freedom to work across a wide range of processing conditions and packaging systems without the constant concern of viability loss over shelf life.”

Johnson noted that clinically efficacious doses are a key consideration for functional food and beverage applications. Manufacturers, Johnson said, must ask themselves whether they can formulate a product with a clinically efficacious dose without compromising the ingredient stack, taste, flavor or other organoleptic properties.

“For example, a manufacturer might create a relaxation beverage with 500 mg of ashwagandha, but they had to compromise on their ingredient stack and couldn’t add any other ingredients,” Johnson explained. “Alternatively, they could only include a sprinkling of the ingredient to make room for other ingredients, thereby compromising efficacy. Branded ingredients that work at low doses, without compromising taste and while remaining water-soluble, are the holy grail of functional food and beverage ingredients.”

Johnson said that until recently, food and beverage innovation has been about convenience. This trend is now changing with new product launches as mainstream brands like Pepsi lean into health benefits messaging, like with Pepsi’s prebiotic cola.

“In addition to mainstream health-benefit-oriented messaging with functional foods and beverages, the next big innovation we will see is personalized nutrition (and nutraceutical delivery),” Johnson explained. “For example, dispenser-cap is a new innovation that keeps active ingredients separate until the moment of consumption, and large-scale personalized nutrition in the functional food and beverage sector isn’t far off.”

Wallart, meanwhile, predicted that the next major wave of innovation in functional food and beverage ingredients will focus on ingredients that combine technical performance with health and wellness benefits. She expects to see more solutions that simultaneously improve texture, stability and shelf life while adding functional value. Wallart pointed to acacia fiber as an example of this convergence, as it enables both formulation performance and clear consumer benefits.

Cope predicted that the next wave of innovation will include products that combine protein and fibers for metabolic benefits in simple, familiar formats. He said that rather than chasing novelty ingredients, brands will instead focus on trusted, science-backed ingredients that deliver real benefits in a transparent manner.

Helm said that healthy aging and longevity will drive premium innovation, with more targeted products designed to support vitality, mobility and performance to emerge over time. This includes expanding into underrepresented areas like hormonal health and stamina.

“In metabolic health, we are likely to see continued growth in multifunctional powders and meal enhancers that integrate seamlessly into daily routines, rather than existing as standalone supplements,” he said. “Finally, the democratization of performance nutrition will accelerate. Plant-based, clean-label solutions will continue to blur the lines between sports nutrition and everyday energy support, making performance benefits accessible to a much wider audience.”

Caputo predicted that the next wave of innovation in food and beverage ingredients will be about closing the gap between flavor and function. Emerging products that will define the next chapter of the category won’t ask consumers to compromise on the experience they desire, instead providing rich, indulgent flavor experiences and concrete health benefits.

“One of the most important shifts underway is the growing recognition that not all plant proteins are created equal,” said Schweizer. “As consumers become more educated, there will be greater scrutiny on plant protein quality, functionality and how well it performs in real-world applications. This creates a significant opportunity for ingredient innovators who can deliver both superior nutrition and superior sensory experience. PDCAAS scores of plant proteins will be of increasing concern to product formulators as consumers demand to know the quality of the proteins they are consuming.”

For Caputo, taste remains a key consideration: “The desired functional benefit might be what gets a consumer to pick up the product the first time, but taste is what gets them to buy it again. So, when you’re evaluating functional ingredients, the flavor implications have to be part of the conversation from the start. Many functional ingredients come with sensory baggage; bitterness, astringency, earthy or metallic notes that don’t belong in the product you want to build. A lot of the off notes can be managed through flavor masking or modification techniques, but some of it requires rethinking how much of the ingredient you’re actually using and what else is in the formula around it. The earlier those questions get asked, the more options you have to answer them.”

Functional Innovations on the Rise

The functional food and beverage space is undergoing rapid innovation in terms of flavor, masking, ingredient efficacy, solubility and more, with emerging products incorporating previously unheard-of ingredients that deliver concrete health benefits. Consumer demand for more sophisticated, intelligent and benefit-driven food and beverage products is forcing ingredient suppliers and formulators to innovate, creating more diverse product lines with more concrete and tailored health benefits. As the technical performance of these products improves, it will enable more formulation flexibility with additional ingredients that can render new health benefits in untapped markets. As the functional food and beverage space continues to evolve, the winners will be ingredient suppliers and brands that can anticipate consumer demand for specific wellness applications and provide ingredients that meet those demands with proven efficacy. NIE