Energy and Protein Lead New Beverage Development
The beverage landscape is shifting. While sales of sugary sodas and fruit drinks have declined, other categories, including energy and protein drinks, are thriving. Currently, the U.S. is the largest market for energy drinks, with sales growing consistently over recent years and reaching nearly $21 billion in 2024.
Protein beverages are following a similar trajectory. According to a July 2025 Beverage Industry article, an analyst at Beverage Marketing Corporation (BMC) reported that consumption of protein drinks rose by 11.5% in 2024. In the same report, NielsenIQ (NIQ) data further highlights the segment's momentum online, ranking protein drinks among the top food and beverage purchases on TikTok Shop and signaling strong appeal among younger, function-focused consumers.
What does this mean for beverage founders and brand leaders?
The convergence of performance-driven demand and shifting retail dynamics is redefining innovation priorities toward cleaner energy sources, plant- and dairy-based proteins, and multifunctional ingredient systems designed to deliver benefits across energy, focus and recovery — all while meeting the consumer’s growing expectations for transparency and efficacy.
At the same time, brands are rethinking how they communicate value — through packaging, claims, and storytelling that align with evolving definitions of health and functionality. As energy and protein beverages continue to lead new product development, success will hinge on clarity of purpose, ingredient credibility, and the ability to turn functional science into an everyday, lifestyle-driven experience.
For brands, this evolution opens the door to innovation across ingredients, positioning and packaging. From natural caffeine sources and adaptogens to clean-label proteins and hybrid formulations, the next generation of functional beverages is being built around purpose-driven energy and personalized nutrition. The race is on to define what “energy” and “protein” mean for the modern consumer — and which brands will lead the charge.
What Are Protein and Energy Drinks?
Protein beverages are ready-to-drink (RTD) formulations fortified with protein sources like whey, soy or pea protein. Consumers choose these beverages as a convenient way to increase their protein intake — a macronutrient that supports muscle maintenance, immune system function and weight management. Formats range from shakes and waters to coffees, teas and smoothies.
Energy drinks contain stimulants, such as caffeine, to deliver mental alertness and physical performance boosts. They are often enhanced by synergistic ingredients such as taurine or B vitamins. Available in carbonated or non-carbonated formats with diverse flavors, they range from traditional cans to innovative shots, waters, and powders, catering to athletes, professionals, and everyday users.
Why Energy and Protein Are Driving New Beverage Development
Modern consumers are prioritizing wellness. They are actively seeking beverages that deliver high-value benefits and contribute to their wellness goals, specifically powering an active lifestyle with more protein and energy.
Keurig Dr Pepper's State of Beverages 2025 Trend Report shows two-thirds of consumers seek beverages that improve their physical health, with 59% targeting meeting daily nutritional needs.
A 2025 McKinsey and Company survey found that consumers are shifting their perspective of beverages to be more like preventive medicine. Innovators such as Urban Remedy have successfully adopted this narrative, using the value proposition “food is healing” to launch “clean protein” collagen shakes that “fuel your well-being.”
The bottom line: energy and protein are driving new beverage development because consumers want more from their drinks. They now expect an immediate, functional ROI from every sip, making their drinks an essential tool for achieving health and performance goals.
Key Trends and Innovations Shaping the Energy and Protein Beverage Market
To capture consumers' demand for beverages that support their wellness, brands are moving past basic formulations to develop multifunctional solutions that command premium pricing and drive category leadership. The following trends are accelerating innovation and reshaping the competitive landscape across the energy and protein drink markets:
1. Benefit Stacking
Benefit stacking dominates energy and protein beverage innovation. This strategy centers on delivering multiple complementary benefits within a single beverage, offering consumers greater value. This eliminates the need for consumers to purchase separate products — such as coffee for energy and a shake for protein — by providing a single, hybrid solution.
The stacking strategy creates a synergistic 1 + 1 = 3 value proposition, such as “energy (caffeine) + focus (L-theanine) = calm productivity" or “energy (caffeine) + recovery (protein) = sustained performance.”
C4 Smart Energy exemplifies benefit stacking well. These energy drinks combine caffeine with the nootropic citicoline to deliver both energy and mental focus in a convenient format. This product appeals not only to gym-goers but also to students, gamers and working professionals. C4 Performance Energy follows the formula “explosive energy (caffeine) + endurance (CarnoSyn beta-alanine) = sustained, high-intensity performance.”
Benefit stacking seems to be paying off for the C4 brand. Circana ranked C4 Energy as one of the top new product pacesetters, validating the consumer demand for multifunctional beverages.
2. Functional, Clean Ingredients
Gone are the days when customers overlooked artificial sweeteners in energy and protein drinks. Today, they scrutinize ingredient lists, demanding stacked, functional benefits delivered through clean ingredients — ingredients that are naturally sourced, minimally processed and recognizable to the average consumer. Roughly 73% of consumers are willing to pay more for beverages made with ingredients they recognize and trust.
Popular examples of clean beverage ingredients include lion's mane mushroom — a nootropic purported to improve brain functioning — and L-theanine, an amino acid found in tea leaves that's often paired with caffeine to promote a “calm focus.” Odyssey Elixir stacks both in mushroom-based RTD beverages, incorporating lion's mane for focus and green tea for “clean” energy.
Modern consumers have become label-literate. A 2025 NSF survey confirms 83% of U.S. consumers read food labels before purchase, 79% checking ingredients first for “free-from” claims like no artificial sweeteners or dyes. They are actively policing “free-from” claims, and beverage brands are responding. Sports drink brand Bodyarmor, for instance, updated its labels to prominently feature nutritional claims like natural flavors and sweeteners in direct response to this scrutiny.
Old formulations that don't meet clean label standards create a gap of opportunity for new beverage development, where emerging brands can make clean versions of what already sells.
3. Expanded Demographics
Energy drinks are no longer just for extreme sports enthusiasts. The demographics have widened substantially to include busy professionals, gamers, gym-goers and women. Similarly, protein drinks aren't just for bodybuilders. These beverages are now actively sought out by a range of consumers desiring a convenient, efficient way to get more protein, including working professionals, health-conscious older adults and those taking GLP-1 receptor agonists like Ozempic and Wegovy.
For GLP-1 users, protein-fortified beverages are essential for managing reduced appetite, maintaining muscle mass and preventing nutritional deficiencies. Many brands have adapted their products to directly serve the needs of this new user segment. It's estimated that 40 million people will be on GLP-1 drugs by 2029, suggesting that protein-fortified beverages are not a trend, but a revolution. The growth in GLP-1 use may explain why Fairlife, a protein-rich ultra-filtered milk, became Coke's fastest-growing brand despite being three times the cost of regular milk.
Flavor Trends in Energy and Protein Beverages
Current flavor trends in energy and protein beverages emphasize adventurous, global profiles alongside nostalgic indulgences driven by Gen Z and millennial demand for cultural exploration and real ingredients. Brands like C4 capture this with “Cereal Killer” — a fruity cereal-inspired energy drink blending bold nostalgia with performance claims like “energy to die for.” Consumers crave authentic tastes from recognizable sources, rejecting artificial profiles in favor of real fruit, botanicals and heritage notes that feel premium and trustworthy.
Regarding flavor trends that lie ahead, Mintel forecasts a rise in tradition-rooted flavors like horchata or matcha in protein drinks, offering comfort amid chaos. These will be paired with multisensory innovations — think creamy textures, aromatic adaptogens like holy basil and schisandra berry, and visually striking layers that stack function, such as focus and recovery, with irresistible appeal.
Functional Ingredients and Formulation Challenges
Consumers demand functional ingredients, bioactive compounds added to provide specific health benefits beyond basic nutrition, in just about everything they consume.
From a beverage development standpoint, functional ingredients can pose numerous challenges, creating hurdles like thermal degradation, chemical instability and off-notes that clash with desired flavor profiles. Essentially, formulators must determine how to add meaningful doses of these ingredients to a drink through flavor-forward profiles that mask the functionality and drive repeat purchase with seamless, craveable taste.
Some popular functional ingredients for energy or protein drinks and their related formulation challenges:
1. Plant Protein
Plant proteins provide a vegan-friendly alternative to dairy, and resonate with the “clean label” consumer, but ingredient quality is paramount. Standard plant proteins such as soy, pea and fava bean are known for poor solubility in liquids, creating a gritty texture and a strong “earthy” or “beany” flavor that can be difficult to mask. Formulators often pair these proteins with hydrocolloids, such as gellan gum, to help maintain a smooth texture and improve mouthfeel. Flavor masking with “brown” profiles, such as chocolate or coffee, also works best with these ingredients.
That said, ingredient innovation has opened the door to new protein beverage formulations. Next-generation hydrolyzed proteins — proteins broken down for enhanced solubility — are fully soluble and stable in acidic, low-pH beverages. This allows formulators to move beyond heavy flavor masking and explore lighter, fruit-flavored profiles or even clear protein waters.
Because plant sources often lack essential amino acids like methionine, formulators need to nutritionally design their beverages to make them “whole” protein drinks. They can use synergistic blends, such as pairing pulse proteins, like pea, with grain proteins, such as rice, to achieve a complete amino acid profile.
2. Natural Caffeine
Natural caffeine sources deliver an energy boost along with additional nutritional compounds derived from the plants. Green tea, guarana and yerba mate are popular choices. However, natural caffeine sources introduce significant bitterness and exhibit batch-to-batch variability, requiring formulators to use bitterness-masking strategies and control standardization for consistent performance.
Standardized extracts can help maintain consistent caffeine levels across every batch. Bitterness can be managed by pairing caffeine with tart flavor profiles such as grapefruit or berry, which naturally complement bitter notes. Formulators can also use bitterness blockers, specialized ingredients that inhibit bitter taste receptor activation, as well as natural sweeteners to further balance the sensory profile.
3. Adaptogens
Adaptogens, such as ashwagandha and reishi, enable brands to layer stress-relief benefits on top of a beverage's core function. When paired with caffeine, these ingredients may help moderate perceived side effects such as jitters. However, incorporating adaptogenic roots and mushrooms presents notable formulation challenges. They often contribute earthy or woody flavor notes and typically exhibit low solubility, which can lead to sedimentation over time.
Using emulsifiers or water-soluble extracts can help keep adaptogens evenly suspended, while bold botanical flavors, such as ginger or hibiscus, can be effective in masking undesirable taste characteristics.
4. Nootropics
Nootropics refer to substances, such as amino acids, vitamins or minerals, that enhance brain function. Many nootropics are unstable in water and can degrade if exposed to heat during pasteurization.
L-theanine, an amino acid, is a popular nootropic. It stacks well with caffeine and creates a “calm focus” — a synergy that consumers love. It's also water-soluble and heat-stable.
However, it has a mild umami taste that can clash with fruity flavors. Formulators can mask L-theanine by increasing sweetness or acidity, overpowering savory notes. It can also be masked in creamy flavors like chocolate and vanilla.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Developing a Winning Energy or Protein Beverage
Developing an innovative energy or protein drink that consumers value is a challenge in itself. When taking it step by step, it is possible to bring a new idea to market successfully. With the right partner, you can do it efficiently. Here's how it works:
1. Brainstorm Ideas
Every successful beverage starts with a bold idea. But what makes a beverage idea truly stand out? It solves a real problem or fills an untapped “white space.” That's why the first step to developing a winning beverage is to define the problem your product addresses, identify who it will solve this problem for, and articulate your value proposition. Back it up with market research to pinpoint exactly what will differentiate your drink from the competition.
2. Formulate
This is where the magic — and often the struggle — happens. Formulation transforms your concept into a production-ready formula. It involves developing a recipe that brings the desired taste profile and functional benefits to life and ensures your beverage complies with regulatory standards.
The goal is to develop a commercial formula that delivers its functional promise while tasting so good that consumers forget their drink is “healthy.” Partnering with experienced formulators, such as the formulation experts at BevSource, is essential for ensuring compliance, consistency and a product that truly resonates with the market.
3. Apply Feedback
Before committing to a full production run, validate your concept with real-world feedback through a focus group or sensory panel to gauge consumer response. Facilities like ours allow you to produce a small, commercial-quality batch to put directly in the hands of consumers. You can then partner with formulators to apply feedback and tweak the formula proactively.
4. Production
Once your formula is validated, it's time to move from the pilot lab to a full-scale production with a contract manufacturer, or co-packer. This stage involves finding and selecting a reliable co-packer, sourcing ingredients and packaging, and navigating the regulatory requirements for your specific beverage category. BevSource manages this complex transition for you so your first big run is ready to hit the line on time, stays within budget and meets your brand's exacting standards.
Partner With BevSource to Launch Your Energy or Protein Beverage
Whether you're an established brand or just getting started, the market opportunity for functional energy and protein beverages is massive. However, the path from concept to shelf isn't an easy one.
You don't have to navigate the challenges of product formulation, regulatory compliance or supply chain logistics alone. BevSource is ready to be your strategic partner in bringing your vision to consumers' hands.
We offer a range of customizable services and market expertise to help you launch your beverage efficiently and successfully. From helping you create an estimated cost of goods sold to managing your manufacturing run, we support you every step of the way.
Let's translate your idea into a scalable, market-ready reality. Contact us to get started now!
