Maintaining mental wellness is expected to be a key consumer trend in 2025, providing brands the opportunity to attract younger consumers who are drinking less alcohol.
Alice Popple-Connelly, an analyst at GlobalData, Just Drinks‘ parent, said rising interest in improving mental health, particularly among younger generations, has led to growing demand for low- and non-alcoholic products. Those consumers, she added, are also interested in products containing ingredients like adaptogens and nootropics.
“Sixty-five per cent of Gen Z and 70% of millennials claim to drink low alcohol- or alcohol-free drinks regularly, occasionally or when socialising, compared to 60% of Gen X and 50% of boomers”, she said, adding that these consumers still need “ways to relax and alleviate stress”.
A survey GlobalData carried out in the second quarter of last year shows 82% of Gen Z and 84% of Millennials reported ingredients that help relaxation or boost mood were “essential/nice to have” in food and drink products.
For health reasons, more consumers are drinking alcohol less often and looking instead at a wider selection of beverages. Some are close replacements to alcohol (think Guinness 0.0) but other drinks attracting interest purport to offer health benefits from the use of functional ingredients – and nootropics has been one segment gaining attention.
Last year, a spokesperson from UK-based healthy snacks and drinks wholesaler Epicurium, which sells the nootropic energy drink Xite, told Just Drinks that nootropics was “a huge trend right now”, that “caught the imagination of time-poor, stressed-out, millennials”.
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By GlobalData“It encompasses a number of botanicals and natural stimulants that promote and enhance mental and cognitive health, which is right at the top of the agenda within millennials and Gen Z”, they added.
In November, Heineken announced its backing of actor Gillian Anderson’s functional drinks brand G Spot which produces a four SKUs range of adaptogen and nootropics-fueled beverages.
The brewing major’s investment was to be used to help build distribution and marketing of the range across the UK. The brand is also said to be looking to expand worldwide, having entered the US market in October.
Brands are also embracing the “mood maintenance” trend, by developing a range of products “supporting different stages or aspects of mental wellness journeys”, said Popple-Connelly.
Medahuman, for instance, sells functional canned beverages alongside drinks powders, gummies and CBD oils together as a series of packages targeting different mental states, such as Help Me Recover and Help Me Sleep.
Despite the growing interest in products targeting mental wellness, Popple-Connelly added “consumer expectations of product performance need to be managed in order to avoid scepticism”.
She added: “Such claims, however exciting, are starting to attract some cynicism. In fact, UK consumer association charity Which? named functional mushrooms one of its 2024 health products you don’t need, stating that much of the evidence behind benefits of these ingredients is actually inconclusive.”