It is almost impossible to review the way the modern soft drinks market has evolved the last two decades without considering the technological, logistical and lifestyle advantages that PET packaging has contributed. Consumers today take for granted the fact that soft drinks are ultra convenient, available for purchase on impulse, highly portable and extremely flexible. The resealability, light weight and robustness of PET have enabled soft drinks to closely respond to modern life and its demands.

The packaging industry is acutely concerned about reducing waste, lightweighting, driving recycled material usage and remaining competitive, whereas the beverage industry has a different but complementary set of issues to address.


Döhler’s development in beverages and dairy products


The DöhlerGroup is a worldwide supplier to the beverage, dairy and ice cream industries. The group has built up an international trend monitoring network to understand the market forces that influence consumer behaviour. The main drivers in today’s soft drinks market are naturalness, health and convenience. With the majority of the world’s population being city dwellers consumers are now seeking products that take them closer to nature and the natural world. Döhler has identified that new products which address greater naturalness, provide nutritional integrity (or help the body to stay healthy) and offer convenience are the most likely to succeed.


Taking bottled water forward


The bottled water market, and the way it is evolving, nicely illustrates these consumer trends. As plain bottled water sales reach a degree of saturation in some Western European markets, Aqua Plus beverages have rejuvenated the category and become a mainstream market phenomenon. In contrast to flavoured waters, which consist simply of water and flavours, Aqua Plus beverages offer a significant “plus” in the form of plant extracts, vitamins or specific functional ingredients designed to promote and support general well-being and good health. This versatility, which embraces a wide range of product positioning possibilities from sports drinks to beauty drinks, is the reason for Aqua Plus beverages’ success and wide appeal.
As the newest category within water-based beverages, Aqua Fruit drinks have a juice content of between 10% and 30%, and provide a natural alternative to classic carbonated soft drinks.

Fruit Splash beverages provide the final link in the chain of products that make up the enhanced water market. These drinks can have a juice content of up to 60%. Unlike 100% juice products, which can sometimes lack refreshment, Fruit Splash concepts provide some very positive attributes: quality and energy from a relatively high juice content, high drinkability due to the balance between natural water and juice, and also excellent thirst quenching characteristics.


Modern sweeteners meeting market needs


The latest generation of sweetening products has to meet the exacting expectations of consumers across diverse product categories and positionings. From completely natural to fully functional, the DöhlerGroup has developed sweeteners that provide flexibility and outstanding performance levels. Under the MultiSweet Plusname the company’s sweetener programme has four products;
MultiSweet Add  is a sweetener range with no bitter edge or metallic aftertaste. It has a near sugar identical taste, as confirmed in consumer taste trials.
MultiSweet F.i.T. provides healthy light nutrition to meet the demands of active consumers seeking energy to help power their busy lives. A selection of long and short chain carbohydrates, from dietary fibre to glucose, and a payload of functional ingredients, provide the foundation for a wide range of added value beverages.
MultiSweet TEC is an advanced, highly concentrated liquid sweetening system. Unlike traditional liquid sweeteners containing aspartame, it has a much longer shelf life thanks to an almost complete absence of aspartame breakdown.

Finally, MultiSweet Fruit is Döhler’s premium natural sweetener produced from 100% fruit juice concentrates. This is the ideal sweetener system for the growing market for closer-to-nature products that demand high quality natural flavour profiles. It is free of chemical additives in its manufacturing process. MultiSweet Fruit offers customers an ideal sugar ratio of fructose, saccharose and glucose with a sweetening intensity directly comparable to sugar while retaining a low glycemic index. MultiSweet Fruit is also available as stabilised, decoloured apple juice concentrates, suitable for all kinds of beverage applications which qualifies as fruit content for label declaration, and as de-acidified apple juice concentrates for dairy products.


The growth in added value beverages


Looking at the 2008 European soft drinks market trends, whether in Western or Eastern Europe, the surge in volume in functional and added value beverages is significant. Energy and sports drinks in particular continue their strong growth and even though they are still a relatively small part of the total soft drinks business they are beginning to influence the wider market.
Energy drinks are advancing from narrowly positioned drinks designed to appeal to young adult consumers and are becoming enhanced performance concepts relevant to wider age groups seeking drinks that support their lives at work, rest and play. A knowledge of fruit and natural materials and the ability to include complex ingredients with slow and fast energy release characteristics opens the door to new concepts for families, professional and amateur sport players, 3rd agers and those juggling competing priorities in busy demanding lives.

Two other particularly dynamic beverage categories that Döhler has been actively involved in are those of “Smoothies” and “Malt & Fermented Beverages”. Both bring a great deal of added value in the form of product quality and product enjoyment.
Smoothies are a phenomenon that has taken off in the USA, UK and Sweden and which is now sweeping through Europe. Döhler has developed a portfolio of new fruit flavour combinations designed to drive the penetration of smoothies by increasing usage occasions and spreading appeal to new age groups. The company is also developing new generation functional smoothies that support key consumer health issues such as weight management and digestive and cardiovascular health.

Meanwhile, fermented and malt beverages open a new world of product possibilities. Döhler has pioneered the development of a new generation of beverages under the fermented drinks initiative. By fermenting malt, juice and teas (whether green, herbal or fruit based) with the aid of specially selected bacteria, alcohol-free products emerge with valuable enhanced natural organic acid ingredients.
Fully integrated solutions
Creating beverages with the right sensory qualities is as important as sourcing the finest raw materials and an essential part of the product development process. Döhler’s Sensory & Consumer Science team can provide customers with both sensory and consumer preference analytical support for products throughout their commercial life from initial concept and from first production to last. This service has developed an international capability to reflect the needs of brand owners and manufacturers in increasingly open and accessible overseas markets.