For its Beverage Trends Report 2017, Think with Google—the brand’s data insights arm—looked at search data from April 2015 to March 2017 to try to better understand what sustained trends were actually driving what people drink.
“The beverage category is evolving so quickly that it’s a challenge to pinpoint which trends matter most,” authors Yarden Horwitz, Trends Brand Strategist, and Olivier Zimmer, Trends Data Scientist, wrote. “[This report] alleviates the guesswork.” Overall, they isolated three key trends: “process becomes primary,” “flavors go earthy” and “more water, more premium.”
For the idea of “process,” the report highlights a number of search terms where process is key to the product’s name: cold brew coffee, nitro coffee, raw juice and infused water to name a few.
“How a drink is made is just as important as what’s in it,” the authors write. “Whether it’s driven by health, taste or connoisseurship, we see growing interest in beverages that are defined by the key process through which they are made.”
As an interesting aside, the report also found, “Searches for cold brew retail brands spike at 2 p.m., but consumers are more likely to [search for how to] DIY cold brew in the evenings around 8 p.m..”.
When it comes to earthy flavors, Google cites “kombucha, matcha, oolong, chamomile and turmeric” as searches that signal this growing trend. “Plant-based ingredients are bringing bold new flavor notes to the beverage equation,” the report states.
Mike Pomranz
