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Published Date: April 8, 2026 | "From childhood resilience to longevity, dairy and non‑dairy drinks' nutritional role is being redefined. Sensory excitement will be further explored." Alice Pilkington, Associate Principal…
Global
Dairy and Dairy Substitute Drinks
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The Future of Dairy and Non-Dairy Drinks
Published Date: April 8, 2026
"From childhood resilience to longevity, dairy and non‑dairy drinks' nutritional role is being redefined. Sensory excitement will be further explored."
Alice Pilkington, Associate Principal
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IN THE NEXT TWO YEARS
Mintel’s perspective
Fuelling health in an age of childhood strain
The global state of children’s health requires urgent solutions
Dairy and non-dairy drinks will leverage their favourable perceptions to act as a vehicle for better children’s health
Graph 1: select preferred product formats for nutritional supplementation, 2024
Dairy brands will speak to children, rather than parents, about gut health
Plant-based drinks will look to the breakfast cereal category for fibre inspiration
Omega-3 will offer products a viable claim as awareness of the gut-brain axis grows
As governments renew their focus on sugar, children’s dairy and non-dairy drinks will need to get creative
Graph 2: white milk, flavoured milk, drinking yogurt, liquid cultured milk and plant-based drinks launches with children (5-12) as a claim, by select sugar-related claims, 2022-26
Mintel Spark imagines an enthralling children’s product…without the sugar high
Flavoured milks will turn up the sensory dial
Younger consumers are choosing their own coffee/tea beverage adventure
Graph 3: select additions consumers like to make to coffee/tea beverages, by select generations, 2026
Dessert flavours will enable consumer to have their cake and (drink) it too!
Creamers will use limited edition flavours as a growth lever outside the US
Flavoured dairy and non-dairy drinks will embrace colour as a new lever for differentiation
Brands will offer suggestions on how to play with temperature and texture
From daily drink to longevity support
Whilst protein is the long game with seniors, fibre will offer dairy and non-dairy drinks a low-hanging fruit
Graph 4: usage of standard cow’s milk, by age, 2022-25
Fibre-enriched drinks will emerge as an educator and longevity lever
Dairy and non-dairy drinks can offer a low-volume fibre solution for smaller senior appetites
Take cues from ‘topper’ products to fit fibre-rich milk into seniors’ existing routines
Graph 5: select typical usage occasions of unflavoured milk, by age, 2025
Leverage seniors’ favourable image of oats to recruit more to plant-based
IN FIVE YEARS AND BEYOND
Mintel’s perspective
Dairy’s hydrating benefits will gain new purpose as global temperatures soar
Dairy and non-dairy brands will use texture to meet underserved consumers’ needs
Upcycling will offer new dairy alternative base ingredients
Upcycled dairy alternatives will lead with health benefits first
Key takeaways
Discover the most important future trends in the global milk and dairy drinks market with Mintel’s Future Of report. The report identifies the key consumer and industry trends that will impact the global dairy and non-dairy drinks market over the next five years.
The most important upcoming trends in the dairy drinks market are analysed and succinctly presented alongside relevant insights from Mintel’s consumer data. So you can understand how consumer demands will change and identify future innovation and growth opportunities.
This report also presents Mintel’s analysts’ pick of the most innovative and inspirational launches in the global dairy and non-dairy drinks market. Understanding the future of the dairy drinks industry has never been so easy.
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