The Future of Sports and Energy Drinks 2026
Beverage categories are converging, with sports drinks moving into everyday hydration, energy drinks into wellbeing and protein extending energy into recovery and fuelling.
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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Where we are now
- In the next two years
- In the next five years
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IN THE NEXT TWO YEARS
- Mintel's perspective
- Sports drinks will evolve into everyday hydration
- Sports drinks will need to expand into everyday hydration to stay relevant
- Functional ingredients will be the bridge between sports drinks and everyday hydration
- Hotter climates will boost hydration demand both outdoors and indoors
- Sports drink mixes will expand into everyday hydration, with education key to improve adoption
- Targeted hydration occasions will unlock growth for child-friendly sports drinks
- Energy drinks will move into holistic wellness
- Energy drinks are being repositioned as all-day wellbeing solutions
- Calm, focused energy will expand consumption occasions
- Graph 1: attributes in packaged non-alcoholic beverages associated with each of the following time of the day, 2025
- Energy drinks will lean on emotional resonance to grow
- Deepen energy drinks as lifestyle markers for women
- Energy drinks can tap into evening wellness through 'calming energy'
- Protein will expand the role of energy drinks
- Protein will unlock new growth spaces for energy drinks
- Protein will enable energy drinks to strengthen their role in performance and recovery
- Protein will push energy drinks into 'better-than-energy' nutrition
- Protein will expand energy drinks into sustained energy and on-the-go nutrition
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IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS
- Mintel's perspective
- Drinks will integrate into consumers' tracked wellness progress
- Sports drinks will increasingly align with real-time physiological needs
- Brands will need to address single-use sachet sustainability
- Brands will start rethinking format and approaches
- Foodservice-born energy refreshers will gain traction in retail
- Key takeaways
"Beverage categories are converging, with sports drinks moving into everyday hydration, energy drinks into wellbeing and protein extending energy into recovery and fuelling."
Heng Hong Tan, Associate Principal
Discover the most important future trends in sports and energy drinks with Mintel’s Future Of report. The report identifies the key consumer and industry trends that will impact the sports and energy drinks industry over the next five years.
Upcoming global trends in sports and energy drinks 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.
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