Soda brands are popping up with new creative opportunities in carbonated soft drinks, catering to the rising health consciousness among consumers, boldly changing the perceptions of soda through healthy and flavoursome solutions, delivering much-needed variety.
The rise of challenger brands tapping into this premium space is encouragingly moving the soda category forward through new sensory journeys and visual identities, changing what it means to drink a can of soda – and for the better.
According to Market Research Future, the soda category will reach $370 billion by 2027 at 3.80% CAGR (analysis by flavours, packaging, regions, channel, distribution and market size forecasted until 2027).
Changing faces of soda: the positive shifts
Marisa Zupan isn't afraid to swim against the current and break out from the conventional saturated market. As co-founder of United Sodas, she identified an opportunity to elevate and challenge the brands that have dominated the category. Reimagining new flavour profiles and working with premium ingredients, the brand addresses the overwhelming need for variety and flavour in this category.
Capitalising on her background at FMCG powerhouses and taking inspiration from design-centric brands like Nike and Apple, United Sodas knows precisely how to create a meaningful brand experience, engaging and captivating with today's consumers.
Culture pop does what other soda brands haven't done; it energises a whole fridge shelf by disrupting the digestive health space with soda containing live probiotics. Senses are woken by a range of fresh and complex fruit juice flavours combined with tongue-tingling organic spices for a wholly refreshing taste.
The brand's subtle soda nuances tap into familiar design codes with bold typography and an on-trend colour palette, achieving an iconic soda design through a modern twist. With its mass premium appeal, this elevated soda feels familiar with a can full of personality that evokes your palette, changing the perceptions of soda through healthy and flavoursome solutions.
Dreaming of a sustainable soda brand
What if you could sit drinking a can of soda, knowing that you're bettering the environment whilst improving your digestion? That's precisely what you get when you pop open a can of Mayawell soda. The brand plugs a much-needed gap in the soda market by creatively building on its purpose to give back to the indigenous communities that harvest its star ingredient, agave.
With every sip and every can sold, you're helping Mayawell's reforestation pursuits and its repurposing of leftover agave fibres into woven materials – cutting down on waste. However, all of this is achieved first and foremost through great taste. With its heavenly blend of fresh hibiscus, selection of berries, and turmeric, these flavours come together to not only rouse your tastebuds but also promote the development of healthy gut bacteria, improving your digestion, metabolism, and immune system.
It's time to disrupt and adapt what soda stands for
The white space opportunities for future brands are plentiful. Tapping into rich, premium market spaces will uplift drinkers with every drop changing why we drink soda, from craft soda brands made with natural ingredients to fortified functional non-cola carbonates. The potential for brands to create functional beverages with antioxidants will co-exist through hybrids distorting the lines between carbonates and sparkling waters.
Reimagined flavour through natural ingredients at the forefront and packaging made from renewable and sustainable materials, future brands will represent how there's more to a can of soda than what's on the inside whilst being relevant on the outside.
