In Brief
Functional beverage brands think they’re fighting for shelf space. That's not the root issue. They’re fighting for a slot in someone’s day. And most are losing — not because the product is bad, but because it doesn’t stick.
What Is Happening (Signals)
- Consumers now stack wellness behaviors: morning hydration, midday focus, evening calm.
- Functional drinks are increasingly used in context (pre-workout, post-meeting, before bed), not as spontaneous purchases.
- Categories are blurring fast: sleep drinks compete with supplements, energy drinks with coffee rituals, hydration drinks with habits like intermittent fasting.
- Trial is high. Loyalty is low. Most functional brands are swapped out with little friction.
The result: plenty of sales, fragile relevance.
What Does It Mean (Insight)
Choice in functional beverages has shifted from “what should I buy?” to “what fits my routine?”
This is a structural change. When a product becomes part of a routine, it stops being compared. When it doesn’t, it stays permanently replaceable.
Most brands still compete on:
- Ingredients
- Flavors
- Claims
- Packaging
But consumers are deciding on:
- Timing
- Emotional payoff
- Habit compatibility
- Identity reinforcement
That’s why two products with similar formulas can have wildly different retention. One earns a role. The other stays optional.
What Is Shifting
From category competition → moment competition. You’re no longer up against “other functional drinks.”
You’re up against:
- Coffee
- Supplements
- Snacks
- Meditation apps
- Skipping the habit entirely
The real competitor is whatever already owns that moment. This is why brands that “work” still fail to scale. They never win a routine. They win a trial.
Where the Relevance Gap Opens
The gap isn’t functional. It’s behavioral.
Brands assume:
“If the benefit is strong enough, people will come back.”
Reality:
“If it doesn’t naturally fit into my day, I’ll forget you existed.”
Routines are conservative. They resist change.
To displace one, a product must do one of three things:
- Reduce friction
- Deliver immediate emotional payoff
- Strengthen identity (“this is who I am”)
Most functional drinks try to do all three — and succeed at none.
What Leaders Should Do
Stop asking: How do we differentiate our product?
Start asking: What moment are we trying to own — and why us?
Specifically:
- Design products around usage moments, not categories
- Signal when and why now clearly — on pack, in language, in distribution
- Build routines, not campaigns (stacks, sequences, rituals)
- Measure success by repeat behavior, not awareness
Because in functional beverages, growth doesn’t come from being better.
It comes from being used.
In Closing
Shelf space gets you noticed. Routines get you chosen.
And choice, over time, is the only thing that compounds.
At Original Minds, we scan millions of data points using an AI-powered system across five forces that influence choice and relevance. We then synthesize findings and frame insights and strategic opportunity areas, which we then help clients use to make better decisions - ultimately helping them win the battle for choice. To learn more, go to www.originalminds.co Or reach out and let's start a discussion.
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