The beverage industry is entering a new era where traditional categories matter less than consumer intention. Rather than choosing between alcohol, coffee, functional drinks or soft drinks, consumers are selecting products based on the feeling or outcome they want to achieve. I believe this shift is changing how brands should innovate, compete and position themselves. The brands that succeed will be those that create drinks people genuinely want; not simply healthier or more functional products, but products that deliver pleasure, purpose and relevance.
We’re already seeing this shift emerge. Brands such as Botivo have built premium non-alcoholic aperitifs that compete on pleasure rather than abstinence, Sentia reframes social drinking around a desired emotional state rather than alcohol content, while waterdrop has transformed hydration from a commodity into a ritualised wellbeing platform.
Key Takeaways:
- Consumers aren’t drinking less. They’re drinking more deliberately.
- The new drinks aisle isn’t organised by category. It’s organised by state.
- The next frontier isn’t wellness. It’s pleasure.
Consumers no longer think that they have to choose between indulgence and health, pleasure and performance, celebration and self-control. Instead, they expect every drink to deliver something more precise; a feeling, a function or a reflection of who they are.
This is creating a profound shift across the drinks market. Consumers are no longer asking “What should I drink?” and instead are asking “What do I want this drink to do for me?”
Sometimes that means focus before work, calm after a stressful day or belonging on a night out without suffering the consequences the next morning. Increasingly, alcohol, coffee, functional drinks, botanical spirits, hydration products and premium soft drinks are competing for exactly the same occasion.
I’ve become convinced that the future of beverages is no longer organised around categories but rather will be organised around intention.
The winners won’t simply offer healthier products or more functional ingredients. They’ll create drinks people genuinely want; products that combine pleasure with purpose, ritual with efficacy and identity with taste.
The biggest misconception about today’s consumer is that they’re becoming more restrained while the evidence suggests something different. They still want indulgence, social connection and escape. They’ve simply become far less willing to waste money, calories or time on products that don’t earn their place.
The next generation of beverage brands won’t be defined by whether they contain alcohol, caffeine or probiotics. They’ll be defined by how successfully they answer one simple question: Why is this worth wanting?
The new drinks aisle isn’t organised by category. It’s organised by state.
One of the biggest shifts happening in beverages is invisible. Consumers are no longer shopping by product type but are shopping by the feeling they want to create. Whether that be calmness, focus, confidence, connection, energy or sleep.
Alcohol is now just one option among many. Coffee competes with adaptogens. functional beverages compete with spirits and botanical drinks compete with wine. The question isn’t “What do I usually drink?”, it’s now “How do I want to feel over the next hour?”
This explains the rapid growth of no- and low-alcohol products, functional beverages and mood-enhancing drinks. They’re part of a much broader transition towards precision rather than moderation. Consumers aren’t rejecting altered states, they’re seeking more control over them.
Brands such as Sentia illustrate this perfectly. Rather than asking consumers to choose between alcohol and no alcohol, they invite consumers to choose a desired social state. Likewise, Botivo is positioned not as an alcohol substitute but as an aperitif worth drinking in its own right, regardless of ABV.
The brands that define relaxation, celebration or focus will increasingly compete across every traditional beverage category.
We’ve seen this challenge emerge repeatedly when helping brands define future innovation strategies and the key lies in identifying unmet moments where consumers are still searching for better solutions.
Prediction: Over the next five years, I expect the strongest beverage portfolios to be designed around consumer need states; focus, recovery, celebration, connection and relaxation rather than traditional product categories.
Consumers aren’t drinking less. They’re drinking more deliberately.
For years the beverage industry has interpreted declining alcohol consumption as a wellness story while the reality is more nuanced.
Consumers haven’t stopped seeking pleasure but have become dramatically more selective about where they spend it. Cost-of-living pressures, changing social habits and greater choice mean every drink now competes on value as much as flavour. Consumers expect something in return for every purchase; a functional benefit, an emotional experience, a memorable ritual or simply exceptional taste.
The result is a market where traditional loyalties are breaking down. Consumers no longer define themselves as wine drinkers, beer drinkers or coffee drinkers. They move fluidly across categories depending on what they need in that moment.
The rise of premium water, botanical aperitifs, functional sodas and alcohol alternatives reflects this shift. These products aren’t replacing alcohol because consumers have become puritanical, they’re succeeding because they’re offering a better answer to a more specific need.
The success of waterdrop demonstrates that even hydration is no longer competing on thirst alone but on portability, ritual and added value, while fermented drinks such as De La Calle show how consumers increasingly reward products that combine cultural authenticity with functional relevance.
In my opinion, the future therefore belongs to brands that justify themselves every time they’re chosen. Mediocre products sitting in the middle of the market are increasingly vulnerable because consumers are willing either to trade up or walk away altogether. The consumer isn’t necessarily sober, but they are selective.
Across projects we’ve delivered with beverage clients, we’ve increasingly found that innovation conversations start with occasions rather than products. Instead of asking how to launch another drink into an established category, the more valuable question is: what role should this drink play in someone’s life? That’s a very different innovation brief.
Prediction: The next decade’s winning beverage brands won’t be defined by what they are, but by the occasions they own. Brands that solve a specific need, whether that be relaxation, celebration, focus or connection, will outperform those competing primarily within traditional categories like beer, wine or soft drinks.
The next frontier isn’t wellness. It’s pleasure.
The beverage industry spent years optimising products; more protein, more probiotics, more adaptogens and more claims. Consumers are beginning to push back and the next wave of innovation is about rediscovering something simpler: drinks that people genuinely enjoy.
Pleasure has become commercially important again, however this doesn’t mean abandoning function. It means recognising that efficacy without enjoyment rarely creates loyalty. Consumers return to products because they taste exceptional, feel satisfying and become part of meaningful rituals.
Botivo exemplifies this new generation of brands. Rather than selling restraint or sobriety, it sells complexity, ritual and enjoyment, proving consumers will pay premium prices for drinks that are desirable in their own right rather than worthy alternatives.
The most successful brands understand that wellness and indulgence are no longer opposites, and the best products combine both. This is why premium water is thriving and why beautifully crafted non-alcoholic aperitifs command premium prices. Heritage ingredients, fermentation and culinary techniques are finding new audiences and consumers increasingly reward products that feel authentic rather than optimised. In a market crowded with claims, the most radical proposition may simply be creating a drink that’s worth wanting.
Brands such as JUZU bring beauty-focused functional drinks into a European context, Micil Poitín reimagines a historic Irish spirit for contemporary consumers, while Amarcha uses Traditional Chinese Medicine as the foundation for a modern beverage experience. Together they show how heritage increasingly functions as proof of authenticity rather than nostalgia.
Prediction: Consumers will not want to compromise between wellness and indulgence anymore but will expect both.
Looking Ahead
If there’s one prediction I’d make for the next decade, it’s this:
The most valuable beverage brands won’t be defined by what’s inside the bottle, they will be defined by the role they play in people’s lives. The winners won’t simply create healthier drinks, lower-alcohol drinks or more functional drinks but will rather create products people genuinely want; products that deliver the right feeling, at the right moment, with no compromise on taste or experience. In a market crowded with claims, the most powerful proposition may simply be creating a drink that’s worth wanting.
Equally, the brands and experiences shaping the future may not always begin with the bottle. Communities such as Morning Gloryville and Daybreaker demonstrate how consumers increasingly organise social occasions around shared energy, connection and desired emotional states rather than alcohol itself. Drinks that enable those occasions are likely to become more valuable than drinks defined by traditional categories.
