drinkworld Technology + Marketing 1/2024

Ingredients
Specialty Beverage Growth is Booming
by DONNA BERRY
Sales of specialty foods and beverages
continue to grow, according to the
Specialty Food Association (SFA), New
York, which hosted the 48th Winter Fancy
Food Show January 21-23, 2024, in Las
Vegas. In the U.S., beverages are just shy
of one-fifth of the specialty market, but
represent some of the fastest-growing
concepts, with coffee and tea (ready to
drink and traditional), sparkling water
and juices fueling growth.
“When times are tough, people start
treating themselves,” said Denise Purcell,
vice president of resource development
for SFA. “Specialty products are the
perfect way to counteract what’s going
on these days.”
Specialty products refer to foods,
beverages and confections that are of
the highest grade, style and/or quality
in their respective categories, according
to SFA. Their specialty nature derives
from a combination of some or all of
the following qualities, the common
denominator of which is high quality:
uniqueness, global origin, particular
processing (and often an intentional lack
thereof), design, limited supply, unusual
application/use, compelling packaging
or channel of distribution/sale.
“The resilient specialty food industry
continues to thrive despite weathering
challenges since 2020,” said Purcell.
“While food inflation has impacted the
market in the past couple of years, that
is stabilizing, and the industry is poised
for the future with several positives
in place. Consumers have more retail
channels in which to purchase specialty
foods, foodservice is rebounding and
makers are innovating with sourcing,
ingredients and promotion.”
Innovations from the expo floor
Beverage exhibitors at this year’s Winter
Fancy Food Show did not disappoint
when it came to creativity and ingenuity.
Most of the new products included a
better-for-you component, such as less
sugar and/or functional nutrition, and
many had global flavor flair.
Moshi, a manufacturer of craft sodas
and sparkling teas, introduced a line
of Asian-inspired sparkling waters. The
line includes four varieties all made with
natural flavors and anywhere from 7%
to 15% (depending on variety) of real
fruit juice for big, fresh flavor.
Varieties include Asian Pear & White,
which is an out-of-the-box pairing of fruit
with savory. The White Peach & Yuzu
showcases two modern trending Asian
flavors with the yuzu sourced directly from
farmers in Japan. Fuji Apple & Concord
Grape is a marriage of a quintessential
Asian flavor--crisp Fuji apple--with a classic
American flavor, Concord grape. The last
variety—Honeydew Melon & Cream—is a
riff on a nostalgic Asian flavor pairing of
melon and cream typically seen in East
Asian sodas and desserts. This beverage
is friendly for dairy-free drinkers as it uses
only cream flavor.
“I decided to diversify Moshi’s portfolio
by introducing a line of Asian-inspired
sparkling waters because we had
customers tell us they loved our soda
line, but found it difficult to drink
often due to the sugar content,” said
Alton But, founder. “Our goal when
formulating this line was to create flavor
combinations that are not only unique
but also impactful in taste.”
The new sparkling waters are naturally
sweetened from the fruit juice. A 12-
ounce can contains a mere 25 calories.
“One of the things I learned in developing
Moshi’s soda line was that our bestsellers
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