Source | FBIF Food & Beverage Innovation
Products like Epic Cleantec's bold innovations may not all be accepted by the market, but they are all exploring the food and beverage industry. When more and more products explore in the same direction, this directional shift gradually emerges as a trend. Based on public information about new product launches in the global food and beverage industry in 2025 (covering China, Europe, the US, and Japan), the author reviewed over 1,000 new products and distilled 6 major trends:
- Trend 1: Supplements as Snacks
- Trend 2: Mild Stimulation
- Trend 3: Convenience Without Compromise
- Trend 4: Everyday Stress-Relief Ingredients
- Trend 5: Tangible Regeneration
- Trend 6: Developing Fan-Oriented Products
Trend 1: Supplements as Snacks
When you think of "supplements," do capsules or white powders come to mind first? In recent years, many brands have started adding nutrients or functional ingredients to snacks people enjoy during leisure time. According to Fact.MR data, the functional snacks market is projected to grow from $112.4 billion in 2024 to $267.5 billion by 2035, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.2%.[1] Building on this market's initial scale, multiple new snack products with supplement functions were launched in 2025.
In April, US brand Hormbles Chormbles launched a high-protein chocolate. This product uses a blend of whey protein and milk protein, with a net weight of 32 grams per pack and 10 grams of protein, equivalent to about 20% of the FDA's recommended daily protein intake for adults. For comparison, a 31-gram classic Dove milk chocolate bar contains 2 grams of protein.
Image source: Hormbles Chormbles
In December, Sprite launched a sugar-free prebiotic sparkling water in the Chinese market, available in 200ml and 330ml cans and 500ml bottles, with the 330ml and 500ml sizes each containing more than 5,000mg of prebiotics.
Image source: Coca-Cola
In the same month, sports nutrition brand ESN launched a peach-flavored creatine gummy, with 3 grams of creatine per 4 gummies. ESN stated that their research found consumers find traditional creatine powder unattractive and difficult to incorporate into daily life, so they developed this product.[2]
Image source: ESN
According to FBIF's review of global food and beverage new products in 2025, several other snack products with supplement functions were also launched. Overall, the ingredients involved in supplement-function snacks include protein, prebiotics, creatine, and others. These ingredients are also popular among consumers; for example, prebiotics have gained attention due to increased focus on gut health, while creatine is a common supplement used by fitness enthusiasts to promote muscle growth and recovery after training. The product forms combined with these ingredients are diverse, with carbonated drinks, gummies, and chocolate being the most common. Some brands have also experimented with categories like electrolyte drinks, rice pudding, and puff snacks. Overall, these attempts are mainly concentrated in food categories that are frequently consumed and generally perceived as "indulgent." Additionally, most brands highlight "key ingredient content" as a selling point. For example, protein snacks or drinks typically contain 10 to 20 grams of protein per serving. The protein content as a proportion of total net weight varies (snacks in grams, drinks in milliliters), ranging from less than 10% to over 30%. For instance, snack brand Genius Gourmet launched a puff snack with 15 grams of protein per 40 grams.
Trend 2: Mild Stimulation
In 2025, spicy food and beverages continued to be popular. However, many brands are no longer satisfied with offering pure spiciness; instead, they tend to pair it with sweeter, more "mild" flavors.
In August, Mars launched a sweet and spicy Skittles product. This Skittles product comes in a gummy format with five flavors: lemon, strawberry, watermelon, mango, and raspberry, each coated with a layer of red chili powder.
Image source: Mars
"Mild spiciness" has also penetrated the breakfast scene. In December, Kellogg's, known for breakfast cereals, announced it would launch a spicy honey-flavored cereal crisp in the UK. Like Kellogg's classic products, this product is also meant to be eaten with milk at breakfast.
Image source: Kellogg's
In addition, several other new products in 2025 developed different flavor combinations around spicy ingredients. From the ingredient lists of these new products, chili and ginger are the most commonly used spicy ingredients among brands. Many products pair chili with honey, which is related to the popularity of "hot honey" flavor in Western countries in recent years. Brands have also developed various sweet-spicy combinations around chili, such as chili with fruit or chili with cream. Notably, some brands have also explored texture dimensions, developing combinations with chili. For example, in January 2025, frozen dessert brand Doughlicious partnered with Pepsi to launch a "sweet and spicy frozen dessert" made with bird's eye chili, ghost pepper, and smoked chili. A food writer who tasted the product described it: "One bite, and your mouth feels like it's on fire, so I quickly ate the ice cream in the middle to cool down the chili spice."[3]
Image source: Doughlicious
Ginger is a popular spicy ingredient in China in 2025, often paired with refreshing ingredients like lemon, and marketed with health and warming benefits. Lemon Republic's warm ginger lemon drink.
Image source: Lemon Republic
Overall, "mild spiciness" is more often introduced in leisure snacks, where sweet foods like gummies, coffee creamers, and cakes are more eager to create contrast. Additionally, some categories that are relatively conservative in flavor innovation are also introducing sweet-spicy flavors. Besides Kellogg's spicy honey breakfast cereal crisp, Italian wine brand Stella Rosa launched a watermelon chili-flavored wine in 2025.
Image source: Stella Rosa
Why are brands starting to offer more "mild stimulation"? Citing Bakery&Snacks' analysis of the popularity of "swicy" (sweet and spicy) flavors: The key reason for the popularity of swicy is balance, as most people want moderate spiciness and refreshing sweetness, not an overwhelming chili attack.[4]
Trend 3: Convenience Without Compromise
In the fast-paced era, convenience foods have activated new demands. In recent years, consumers who want "both this and that" have raised their requirements for convenience foods beyond just "convenience." According to a 2024 survey by data analytics platform YouGov, among US consumers who buy ready-to-eat food at least once a month, 70% consider "taste" the most important factor when purchasing ready-to-eat food, tied with "convenience," followed closely by "ingredients" at 51%.[5]
In 2025, multiple new convenience food products were launched. These products simplify traditional cooking processes while striving to preserve flavor and nutritional value.
In September, Romanian brand Dozz launched aluminum-canned ready-to-drink soups in the UK. The ready-to-drink soup comes in 10 flavors, with different flavors focusing on different types of nutrition. Additionally, this ready-to-drink soup is served cold and can be consumed without microwave heating.[6]
Image source: Dozz
In October, Hema launched a "Ding Ding Hot Pot Cup." This product packs at least 10 ingredients commonly eaten in hot pot into a plastic cup, ready to eat after 5 minutes in the microwave.
Image source: Xiaohongshu @南京小盒马
In 2025, there were many more new convenience food products that are both convenient and uncompromising. They basically target the most common foods on people's daily tables. Among these foods, staples like rice, noodles, and beans remain the main targets for convenience foods. At the same time, several brands have turned soups into convenience foods, innovating in drinking methods and scenarios. These include Dozz's portable cold drinks and Ito En's "truffle soup" hot drink available from vending machines.
Image source: Ito En
For all types of convenience foods, saving consumers time remains the primary function. Therefore, many convenience foods are ready-to-eat without any operation, and foods that require heating typically take less than 5 minutes. In addition to quick-to-eat foods, some brands have developed "convenient cooking solutions." A cooking seasoning called Flavour Bombs standardizes the ratio of various spices and seasonings and shapes them into bath bomb-like forms. When cooking, consumers simply add the "bath bomb" to the pot, and within 30 minutes, they can complete a "restaurant-level dish."[7]
Image source: Flavour Bombs
Beyond convenience, nutrition and health are another focus for brands. One direction of "nutrition and health" is reducing artificial additives. For example, Heinz launched a convenient bean meal pouch that is ready in 90 seconds and uses only natural ingredients.
Image source: Heinz
Another direction is increasing nutritional content. Protein and dietary fiber are key nutrients of focus. For instance, Bol Foods launched a "Thai Green Power Soup" with 20 plant ingredients, containing 12 grams of dietary fiber and 20 grams of protein per 600 grams, and each serving can meet two-fifths of an adult's daily fruit and vegetable intake goal.
Image source: Bol Foods
In addition to convenience and nutrition, there is also a pursuit of taste. This not only means convenience foods must be "delicious," but also increasingly incorporates novel global flavors. For example, Heinz's three bean meal pouches include Italian white bean and Mexican black bean varieties.
Trend 4: Everyday Stress-Relief Ingredients
Once, functional drinks wanted to make you feel energetic; now, more and more functional drinks want to make you feel relaxed. Overseas, beverages with stress-reducing ingredients have a name: Relaxation Beverages. Market Data Forecast predicts that the global "relaxation beverages" market will grow from $493 million in 2024 to $1.75 billion by 2033, with a CAGR of 15.1%.[8]
In 2025, multiple new "relaxation beverages" were launched, incorporating ingredients with mood and stress management effects to fit into scenarios where consumers need physical and mental relaxation. For example, in June, functional beverage brand Trip launched an energy drink with magnesium and lion's mane mushroom extract. Magnesium is a mineral that helps prevent overexcitation of the brain and stabilizes mood[9], while lion's mane mushroom is a functional ingredient beneficial for improving cognitive function and mood.[10] Additionally, the product partnered with mental health app Calm, offering a promotion where purchasing Trip functional drinks grants a Calm membership.
Image source: Trip
In addition, in 2025, various other ingredients claimed to "reduce stress" were added to beverages and foods. According to incomplete statistics, popular functional ingredients can be divided into two categories: natural-source functional ingredients, such as ashwagandha, lion's mane mushroom, Indian ginseng (ashwagandha), and L-theanine; and non-natural-source functional ingredients, such as the essential mineral magnesium and the brain's inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA. Many products also combine multiple stress-reducing functional ingredients. For example, US non-alcoholic cocktail brand Mingle Mocktails launched a functional beverage blending lion's mane mushroom extract, Indian ginseng, and L-theanine.
Image source: Mingle Mocktails
Among various products, functional beverages are the most common form. However, "relaxation ingredients" are also being added to high-frequency daily consumption categories like coffee, candy, and juice. For instance, UK brand Unconform added ashwagandha, one of the adaptogens, to its RTD cold brew coffee. In product promotion, Unconform emphasizes the combination of caffeine and ashwagandha, saying, "Coffee makes you alert, ashwagandha makes you calm."
Image source: Unconform
Trend 5: Tangible Regeneration
In recent years, several global food and beverage giants have been advancing their practices in "regeneration." As early as 2021, Nestlé proposed accelerating the transition to a regenerative food system, setting clear long-term goals for 2030: sourcing 50% of key ingredients from farmers adopting regenerative agriculture practices and achieving 100% renewable electricity across all manufacturing sites.[11] By 2024, 32% of Nescafé's coffee ingredients came from farmers engaged in regenerative agriculture, surpassing its original 2025 target.[12] PepsiCo has also been investing in regenerative agriculture; in 2024, the total land area under regenerative, restorative, or conservation tillage practices globally reached 3.5 million acres.[13]
In 2025, the results of "regeneration" practices began to be more reflected in products. In November, UK agricultural cooperative First Milk's dairy brand Golden Hooves launched a salted butter. Golden Hooves stated that the milk used for this salted butter comes from farms within its regenerative agriculture system, which simultaneously engage in crop cultivation and dairy farming.[14]
Image source: Golden Hooves
In the same month, UK-based regenerative agriculture food company Wildfarmed launched a "regenerative muffin." The flour for this muffin comes from wheat grown on Wildfarmed's regenerative farms.
Image source: Wildfarmed
Additionally, several other brands launched products in 2025 with a "regenerative" concept, with the concept reflected in different stages of production. For example, at the raw material end, multiple products chose crops grown using regenerative agriculture methods as ingredients. Among these, staple crops with high yields, such as wheat, oats, and potatoes, are most commonly included in regenerative agriculture practices. Beyond raw materials, the "regenerative" concept is also applied to production processes. For instance, purified recycled water is used in the production of food and beverage products. Water reuse technology company Epic Cleantec launched two beers brewed with recycled water in 2025, sourced from building shower and laundry systems.
Image source: Epic Cleantec
Furthermore, renewable energy is playing a greater role in product production and transportation. Carlsberg Sweden's 2025 non-alcoholic beer exemplifies the tangible role of renewable energy in production: it is produced and transported using 100% renewable energy, and its white can features a gray lightning bolt symbolizing its connection to renewable electricity generation.
Image source: Carlsberg
Trend 6: Developing Fan-Oriented Products
Co-branding as a marketing method is nothing new. However, as co-branding increases, the forms have become homogenized. Therefore, in recent years, many brands have moved beyond simply putting logos or giving away merchandise, instead seeking more clever integration points from the co-branded IP and incorporating them into product design.
During the 2025 Spring Festival, Heinz and Huang Tian'e co-branded "printed eggs."
Image source: Heinz
In 2025, this approach was particularly active in co-branding between food brands and entertainment IPs. In July, Nestlé's coffee creamer brand Coffee Mate partnered with the Harry Potter series to launch two co-branded products with flavors "cauldron cake" and "mint toad," both of which are fictional snacks from the wizarding world of Harry Potter.
Image source: Nestlé
In November, the movie "Wicked: Part Two" was released. UK bakery manufacturer Finsbury Food partnered with Universal Pictures to launch a cake split in half, with one half predominantly pink and the other green, corresponding to the signature colors of Glinda the Good Witch and Elphaba the Wicked Witch, respectively.
Image source: Finsbury Food
According to incomplete statistics, in 2025, multiple products drew inspiration from co-branded entertainment IPs to design truly "fan-oriented" products. From a category perspective, these products are mainly concentrated in desserts and snacks that can satisfy emotional value and self-reward needs, such as cookies, cakes, and gummies. In terms of entertainment IP types, films, music albums, and video games can all serve as sources of inspiration for brands. The integration of these food products with entertainment IPs takes several common forms. One is directly converting classic foods from storylines into product flavors. For example, Coffee Mate not only introduced "cauldron cake" and "mint toad" flavors but also launched a creamer in the flavor of "butterbeer," a classic drink in Harry Potter; biscuit brand Pocky also chose this flavor in its Harry Potter co-branding. Another form is "compiling" settings or design styles from entertainment content into food products. Finsbury Food's two-tone cake with "Wicked: Part Two" is a representative example. Additionally, German gummy brand Haribo collaborated with South Korean singer Jennie to launch "Ruby Hearts" gummies, inspired by her debut album "Ruby," with packaging design in red and black tones also inspired by the album cover.
Image source: Haribo, Odd Atelier & Columbia Records
Another form is recreating classic elements from entertainment content through food. However, recreation is not always easy.
Image source: Doughlicious, Doom Wiki@Digital1Knight
Frozen dessert brand Doughlicious recreated the "flail" weapon from the video game "Doom: The Dark Ages" in an ice cream treat. The treat features a spherical shape similar to the flail and uses black cocoa cookie dough to replicate its color.
Image source: YouTube@Craigo
However, judging from unboxing videos shared by netizens, it's not exactly identical; it's safe to say there's no resemblance.
Final Thoughts
Snacks with supplement functions, convenient but not compromising convenience foods, functional drinks with stress-relief ingredients... Most new products in 2025 did not choose to create entirely new categories but rather discovered new needs within existing categories and rewrote their innovation rules. Observing these innovative products, it becomes clear that the direction of improvement and upgrade still points to the enduring needs of our era, such as maintaining physical and mental health, deriving emotional value, and effectively utilizing fragmented time. This once again proves that no matter how forms change, true innovation is a response filled with care for humanity's fundamental needs.
References: [1] Functional Snacks Market Outlook from 2025 to 2035, 2025.5, Fact.MR [2] ESN's UK launch: Creatine peach gummies and "intelligently dosed" pre-workout drink, 2025.12, nutrition insight [3] I tried spicy ice cream for the first time and it was a taste sensation - but I wouldn't have it again, 2025.2, Glasgow World [4] How 'swicy' became the global flavor with staying power, 2025.8, Bakery&Snacks [5] America's appetite for convenience cooking, 2025.1, YouGov [6] Dozz brings new chilled RTD soup cans to UK, 2025.9, FoodBev Media [7] Bath bomb-inspired Flavour Bombs set to shake up home cooking, 2025.8, FoodBev Media [8] Relaxation Beverages Market Report, 2025.6, Market Data Forecast [9] 镁助你减轻焦虑和抑郁, 2024.1, 青年参考 [10] The Acute and Chronic Effects of Lion's Mane Mushroom Supplementation on Cognitive Function, Stress and Mood in Young Adults: A Double-Blind, Parallel Groups, Pilot Study, 2023.11, National Library of Medicine [11] Sustainability at Nestle-Our Approach, Nestle official website [12] Nescafé surpasses 2025 regenerative agriculture goal, 2025.6, Nestle official website [13] How regenerative agriculture can help farms and the planet thrive, 2025.9, PepsiCo official website [14] Golden Hooves expands dairy range with launch of regeneratively farmed salted butter, 2025.11, FoodBev Media
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