Opportunities and challenges for functional and medicinal beverages: Current and future trends

Health and wellness are among the core segments of the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), with the ever-increasing health consciousness among consumers around the globe. Functional foods and beverages, formulated from natural ingredients with targeted physiological functions, are at the heart of research and development in food industry. However, the novel functional food product development requires extensive research and development activities i.e., clinical efficacy trials, which the food manufacturing companies cannot afford to perform owing to their limited R&D budget and limited technical know-how in this particular aspect. Further the consumer acceptance of these food products is another area of concern for functional beverages development. For example, among the beverages, one challenging task is to replace sucrose with naturally occurring sweeteners, which could effectively address concerns of sugar intake in patients with diabetes and provide a healthy choice for consumers. However, consumer acceptance of these beverages from the sensory point of view remains challenging. Therefore, to better map the opportunities and challenges associated with functional beverages development, this review focusses on recent trends in the global market and new opportunities that may arise as a result. A detailed analytical discussion on new potential functional beverages and related products has also been presented.