Functional beverages for inner power and wellness steal the show at FiE 2025

At the recent Food ingredients Europe (FiE) trade show, functional beverages took center stage. As consumers increasingly seek natural and functional ingredients that support health benefits across digestion, cognition, beauty-from-within, energy, and fitness, brands presented formulations that combine functionality with taste and convenience.

On the show floor, Nutrition Insight caught up with Prinova, Nexira, and Arla Foods Ingredients to explore their ingredients for healthy and tasty formats. 

Michael Robbins, technical sales executive at Prinova, told us that functional beverages are in growing demand as consumers seek a solution that provides the “most amount of benefits for the least amount of effort.”

He highlighted that the lines between beauty, wellness, and nutrition continue to blur, which were once very specialized products. “These functionalities have become much more mainstream; they’ve become a lot more accessible to many more people.”

Robbins said that Prinova is keeping up with hydration trends. “It’s a crowded market space, but we’re looking for new angles to provide more functional hydration products that consumers are looking for.”

For example, he illustrated: “There’s a growing consumer trend for natural and clean label products, with people looking for functionality from nature.”

“We know that many of these ingredients are challenging to work with. They might not be soluble, or they may impact taste. We’re focused on refining those ingredients to provide functional benefits while ensuring they work well in product applications.”

“Inner Power”

At FiE this year, Prinova showcased three functional beverage concepts under the umbrella of “Inner Power.” Robbins said that these products encompass the key trends the company observed within this increasingly popular format. Prinova designed the ready-to-drink range to “inspire innovation and drive category growth.”

Robbins said functional beverages are in growing demand and increasingly accessible as consumers seek low-effort solutions with health benefits.“The first is an ‘Inner Focus’ concept, which jumps on the cognitive trend we’re observing. It contains some branded ingredients and a formulated premix, and it’s flavored with a trending winter berry.”

The beverage featured a vitamin B blend to support cognitive claims, alongside coenzyme Q10, and natural functional ingredients, such as BrainBerry, an Aronia berry extract developed by Solabia Nutrition to enhance cognitive performance.

“The second concept is ‘Inner Balance,’ which focuses on the gut health trend,” continued Robbins. “This trend has been growing for a while, but we’re taking a slightly different angle on it, as gut health is a growing area in beverages.”

This lime-, cucumber-, and mint-flavored concept contains apple cider vinegar powder and passion flower and ginger extracts. 

Prinova’s own research identifies gut and digestive health as primary concerns for 85% of consumers.

Robbins presented the third concept, “Inner Glow,” as another significant trend in the market for both female and male consumers. This orange drink includes lemon balm extract, chamomile extract, and marine collagen.

“When we decided on these concepts, we used bespoke consumer trend insights we developed by surveying consumers in the five major European markets,” he detailed. “We asked a wide range of questions, including their demographics, what they’re interested in, and what type of functionality they were already consuming.”

Taste with health

Robbins noted that consumers continually want a product that offers health benefits that also tastes great and looks appealing.

“When we’re designing these concepts, it’s great if they offer functionality and health benefits, but if a consumer who tries it doesn’t like it, they’re not going to buy it.”

For the “Inner Power” concepts, Prinova utilized its in-house flavoring capabilities to overcome the challenges of working with certain functional ingredients, which Robbins noted don’t always taste great. “We’ve used our toolbox to make something that tastes and looks great while providing health benefits.”

Julie Impérato, Marketing & Communication manager at Nexira, and Charlotte Wallart, product manager.Charlotte Wallart, product manager at Nexira, also observed that taste is key for repeat purchases of a product.

“We’re seeing more and more products with tasty and healthy properties,” she told us. “We have versatile ingredients that provide functional benefits, such as mouthfeel in beverages. For example, we offer acacia and locust bean gum to improve texture and to add functionality, because we want products to be tasty and healthy.”

Julie Impérato, Marketing & Communication manager at Nexira, added that consumers are looking for low-sugar, tasty, and natural beverages with health benefits.

“We’re currently working on diversifying our natural ingredients range to address different health benefits. For example, we already have ginseng in our portfolio, and we’re working on adding a new adaptogen to the range.”

Natural functional beverage ingredients

At the show, Nexira presented new botanical extracts with targeted benefits. These included guarana for natural energy, ginseng for cognition, lemon balm for relaxation, and hibiscus for an antioxidant boost.

The company showcased its prebiotics, extracts, and natural texturizers through three beverage concepts: a refreshing prebiotic water, a morning boost latte, and a sunrise mocktail.

Wallart noted that the company offers a wide range of botanicals and natural extracts for functional beverages, such as guarana for natural caffeine, green tea, and ginseng.

“We see the trend of functional beverages is booming, with many launches featuring botanicals. This trend started with energy drinks, which are now the majority of launches on the market.”

To illustrate its natural functional ingredients, Nexira highlighted a wider range of beverage concepts. For example, Nexira developed a Calm & Relax sparkling water with lavender and lemon balm extract, based on Innova Market Insights data indicating that consumers prioritize emotional health. A quarter of global consumers are treating themselves to a food or beverage to relieve stress.

Arla Foods Ingredients’ high-protein drink concepts featuring protein hydrolysates included a carbonated milk-like drink called Milky Spark and drinkable yogurt.“We’re also seeing functional varieties diversifying in terms of wellness benefits, including antioxidant properties, immunity, and more,” detailed Wallart.  

Impérato added: “We see our customers asking for more naturalness. They were initially focused on health benefits, but now they also want to emphasize naturalness in the beverages. Natural ingredients are also important to consumers as they help build trust toward a brand.”

Functional protein drinks

Peter Schouw Andersen, senior director of Performance Nutrition at Arla Foods Ingredients, pointed to the applicability and functional benefits of hydrolyzed whey protein in beverages, beyond sports nutrition. These proteins are “pre-digested” to produce smaller peptides that are quickly absorbed.

“With a hydrolysate, you get faster digestion of the protein, and that’s moved into the health space,” he detailed. “But hydrolysates also give different functionality — they give the opportunity to use them in different applications. I think that’s where they will be used. You can add a ‘hydrolyzed’ claim, which has a premium effect on the product, but the main benefit is functionality.”

Schouw Andersen suggested that brands can add hydrolyzed proteins to more food and beverage products, as they don’t react with other ingredients or processing like complete or intact proteins.

“A complete protein, like whey or some dairy proteins, will unfold and react when heated,” he noted. “If you add normal whey protein to coffee, it looks terrible. But hydrolysates won’t react because they’re already ‘predigested.’”

At the same time, these hydrolyzed proteins have the same effect on the body as the complete versions. Schouw Andersen added that Arla Foods Ingredients has shown in research that they’re absorbed faster.

At FiE, Arla Foods Ingredients presented several high-protein drinks featuring these hydrolysates, including a carbonated milk-like drink called Milky Spark and a protein soda with a lemon and lime flavor, offering a healthier alternative to soft drinks. According to Schouw Andersen, these appeal to an active lifestyle and female audiences.

He observed that the functional beverage market is “moving fast,” especially in clear, ready-to-drink formats. For example, adding protein to sodas or vitamin waters for indulgent products with added benefits.

“I think that’s where we’re going to see most innovations next year,” he predicted. “We’re working with many multinational companies on this. Next year will be fantastic for that space.”

“We can go a bit beyond traditional formats now because customers want new formats — not just powders, drinks, and bars.”

Schouw Andersen also pointed to developments in energy drinks, which he said are “massive” in the US and growing in Europe. “Adding protein to those beverages is also a big trend in the US at the moment. Let’s see how that will develop because that will tap into functional beverages.”