APAC beverage brands shift to everyday wellness, Mintel finds

Mintel's latest report highlights a regional push toward everyday wellness support, prompting beverage and nutrition brands across Asia-Pacific to rethink how they position functional benefits. In India, 46% of consumers describe themselves as having an active lifestyle, a key demographic that is reshaping demand.

Ready-to-drink tea in India remains under-positioned despite strong trust credentials, according to the research. The category leads on natural claims, with 59% of product launches featuring such messaging compared with 31% for other beverage categories like hot beverages, RTD coffee, water, carbonated soft drinks and sports drinks. Yet it trails sharply on functional claims, at 14% versus 38% for other beverages.

Among Indian consumers, the top energy-related benefits sought in packaged non-alcoholic beverages include instant energy boost (60%), calming effects (48%), mood boosting (35%), steady release of energy (29%) and improved mental focus (22%). The demand for energy is also showing up in product launches: energy claims in Indian non-alcoholic drink launches have more than doubled over a decade, rising from 6% of launches in 2015–2016 to 15% in 2023–2024.

The report indicates that consumer expectations are diverging across the region, with Thailand and Australia each demonstrating particular wellness-related preferences in beverage and nutrition choices. For brands, the shift means moving beyond targeted, one-function claims to products that support everyday wellbeing in a more integrated way.