October 1, 2025 – In the past, European consumers have been concerned about sugar and artificial additives. Now, more consumers are instead looking for functional beverages with health benefits. There is still a need to raise consumer awareness and address skepticism, but millennials are leading the adoption of functional beverages across Europe. Innova Market Insights looks at this trend, consumer insights, product launches, and the potential for the future.
Consumer Skepticism Around Functional Beverages
Europeans are less invested in functional beverages than other global regions. They are less likely to buy them or believe they are effective. Finding the right messaging to connect emotionally with consumers on their wellness journey, starting with Millennials, is essential for driving adoption. For non-users and skeptics, lifestyle relevance is crucial to overcoming resistance. In sports drinks, there is a clear divide between active consumers and everyone else. For those involved in sports, exercise, and other active pursuits, nutritional value, health benefits, and naturalness hold most importance, while this isn’t necessarily the case consumer who are not so active.
New Functional Ingredients Still Need Awareness
Brands need to educate consumers about functional beverages. Education helps build the buyer base, but trying the product is crucial for skeptics. Natural, affordable products can attract hesitant consumers, while clear functional benefits motivate European consumers to try functional beverages. Functional beverage trends indicate that Millennials are more open to functional ingredients, with nearly half of European Millennials believing they support mental health. Overall, only 43% of consumers across generations trust this, which is below the global average of 56%. Consumers also look for indulgent options to improve their mood. This suggests that brands have difficulty differentiating between the emotional benefits of functionality and traditional comfort foods and beverages.
Wellness Strategies Slow to Change in Europe
Europeans are the least proactive among the global regions in preventing health issues, with 51% of European consumers saying they are proactive in trying to prevent health issues. Functional beverage trends show that France and Germany have the least proactive attitude toward health, with only 44% and 45% of consumers, respectively, thinking of living healthily in this way. Shifting European attitudes toward healthy living will be challenging. Focusing on education, transparency and sharing scientific evidence that proves the claimed benefits of functional beverages work will help promote a more preventive, lifestyle-based approach to wellness. Integrating familiar ingredients – with and without health benefits – and using cultural references and flavors will help European consumers to adopt functional beverage adoption.
Personalized Care is Increasing in Health and Wellbeing
Despite lower proactivity towards health in Europe, self-care is rising. Functional beverage trends show that nearly 40% of Boomers feel self-sufficient in managing their health. Younger generations are less self-sufficient, but one-third of Generation Z and many Millennials are starting to take control of their healthcare. One-third of Generation X and a quarter of other generations appreciate the convenience of at-home self-care, while a quarter across all ages desire personalized healthcare. Functional beverages can support European consumers’ desire for personalized health by providing more control, convenience, and personalization.
Europeans Match Function to Activity
What functional benefits European consumers seek depends on the activity. For example, they use hydration for walking, whereas they might use energy products for more intense activities, like competitive sports. For activities that are in between, such as solo sports, dancing, gym workouts, or yoga, people may choose either hydration or energy products, or both.
Potential for Sports Drinks
Functional beverage trends reveal that energy drinks are consumed regularly by 34% of European consumers. This group is more likely to say their consumption has gone up rather than down. The value and volume of these drinks are growing at the same pace and are outpacing the overall growth of beverages. This shows that even with higher prices, consumers remain loyal, and the added functionality provides real value. Sports drinks are still a niche market in Europe, but they have great potential, especially among current consumers. Attracting new consumers can happen through innovation that showcases various uses beyond just sports, such as hydration, recovery, or energy. More benefits provide more reasons to drink sports drinks and other functional beverages and create greater opportunities to build loyalty.
Balance Cost with Function to Prove Value
Some athletes opt out of sports drinks, usually for the same reasons cited by those engaging in lighter physical activities: a preference for natural ingredients and concerns about cost. But the least active consumers are less concerned with naturalness, while the most active show the least resistance to paying more for the perceived benefits. A lack of understanding or a lack of belief in the benefits of sports drinks is also a barrier to purchasing, regardless of whether the individual is participating in light or intense physical activity. This knowledge and belief gap widens among the least active consumers. This signals an opportunity for targeted education. Addressing both perception and price will help brands boost adoption. Products that combine natural ingredients with affordability can attract hesitant consumers. Clear communication of relevant functional benefits can encourage trial among a wide range of potential consumers.
Functional Beverages Positioning in Europe
Brands want to make sports drinks attractive to regular consumers. Viking Power, for example, adjusted Glacier’s formula to draw in casual drinkers, providing energy, focus, and hydration from electrolytes. Drinks like Hydrate in France are designed for endurance athletes, featuring electrolytes and vitamin B1. Some brands add nootropics and adaptogens for cognitive benefits; for example, Common’s sparkling drinks use lion’s mane mushrooms for mental uplift, focus, and energy without caffeine.
What’s Next for Functional Beverages in Europe?
There is potential for growth in functional beverages in Europe. We expect to see more sugar-free drinks that offer added benefits like fiber and support for gut and immune health. The use of nootropics and adaptogens in these beverages will also rise. Ingredients such as ashwagandha, Rhodiola, mushrooms, and possibly cannabinoids are linked to cognitive and mental health, which attracts consumers. As personalized health becomes more significant, functional beverages that provide specific benefits will likely be favored over standard options, particularly among GLP-1 users and Generation Z. Concerns about effectiveness, cost, or short-term benefits may limit trials and loyalty, especially for long-term health claims like heart health and aging. To tackle this, brands need more than just new products and claims. Clear education, appealing flavors, and better pricing can help turn interest into loyalty.
This article is based on Innova’s Functional Beverages in Europe report. This report is available to purchase or with an Innova Reports subscription. Reach out to find out more