‘Drinksplus’ products suit Asian tastes

SIG Combibloc’s drinks plus technology has enabled a range of new beverages which are proving popular particularly in Asia.

According to SIG Combibloc, ‘drinksplus beverages containing natural extras such as pieces of real fruit, vegetables or cereal grains are best-sellers, and continue to offer further potential. New products containing unusual bits are creating consumer buzz.’

These drinks plus beverages, with up to 10% natural particulate content, can all be processed and aseptically filled in carton packs on standard filling machines from SIG Combibloc for liquid dairy products and non-carbonated soft drinks.

The individual bits can be up to six millimetres in length and width. With drinksplus, beverage manufacturers can add products to their existing ranges in a practical way and in line with current trends. Matthias Krusche, global market segment manager at SIG Combibloc: “drinksplus beverages are currently the most widely diversified forms of trend beverages offered in aseptic carton packs. They’re highly innovative and reflect the attitude of the modern consumer, for whom good health and personal well-being are top priorities. Asian consumers in particular find these qualities very attractive. What’s hot at the moment is natural products offering additional benefits that meet these requirements, taste good, and are fun or interesting to drink. It’s far from being just a question of providing the body with food and caring for it with healthy ingredients – it’s also about indulgence. And this is where drinksplus products deliver, so to speak, a complete package”.

Premiere in China

The first drinksplus products were launched in China, where the two leading dairy companies, Inner Mongolia Mengniu Dairy and Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group, started selling UHT yogurt beverages with fruit bits and UHT milk with rice grains.

Stella Yan, head of marketing Asia-Pacific North at SIG Combibloc: “In China, yogurt beverages are currently among the most popular products in the long-life liquid dairy products segment. In particular, consumers’ ongoing interest in healthy living is continuing to give the dairy industry solid growth figures in the yoghurt drinks sector. While it’s mainly the flavoured yogurt drinks that are the growth drivers right now, tomorrow it’ll be the trendy premium products that will have consumers buzzing and will provide new impetus in the dairy industry. Thanks to the natural particulates in the drinksplus yogurt beverages, consumers can actually feel the extra benefit the products offer. Natural bits of fruit, vegetables or cereal grains are not only valuable for a balanced diet, but are perceived and rated by consumers as ‘extras’ with additional value”.

Success in South-East Asia

Alongside China, the current consumer trend means drinksplus products are also predestined for a successful launch in the South-East-Asia region.

“Traditionally, in this part of the world consumer health-consciousness plays a key role in food selection”, says Patrizia Wegner, head of marketing Asia-Pacific South at SIG Combibloc. “In addition, for more and more consumers the idea of beauty that comes from within is a decisive aspect of dietary choices. People want foods that have a natural extra beauty benefit – something for the skin, the hair or perhaps to help control weight. The possible range of products that can include physiologically active substances is extremely wide.”

Revitalising konjac pearls

In Taiwan, Sunprofits launched the first drinksplus products in spring 2013, and the company took a completely new route with the conceptual design of the products. Alongside a chocolate drink containing flakes of real coconut, under the brand name ‘Nulife’ a milk tea with QQ grains (jelly pearls made from the konjac root) hit supermarket shelves for the first time – a first in the aseptic carton packs.

The konjac plant, also known as devil’s tongue, is very common throughout South-East Asia. Pearls made from the konjac root have a revitalising effect, and are a natural dietary fibre with low energy density. They are also thought to help regulate cholesterol level. These natural bits give the new ‘Nulife’ products the character of healthy snacks. With the new milk tea with QQ grains from Sunprofits, the trend beverage ‘Pearl Milk Tea’, one famous variant of ‘bubble tea’, is now also available in carton packs for the first time in Taiwan.

Bubble Tea is at number 25 on CNN’s Top 50 list of the world’s most popular beverages. The drinksplus products come in the carton pack combifitSmall 300ml.

Thai company Sahachol has also gone for the konjac root, recently bringing out two drinksplus products under the brand name ‘Konyakky’. With these products, the company is tweaking the interest of health-savvy consumers for whom unusual taste experiences are at the top of the wish list. One of the beverages is based on a mix of fruit drink with ‘Bubble Konyakku’, small beads of konjac, and peptide collagen. The innovative beverage has a high vitamin C content, and the collagen gives skin a healthy and nourishing boost. The second new product is a juice drink made from white grapes. Here too, the small konjac beads have a revitalising effect. In addition, a high content of additional natural dietary fibres (6,000 mg) helps improve digestion. For Sahachol, the launch of the new products marks the company’s first foray into filling products in aseptic carton packs. The drinksplus products are offered in the carton pack combiblocMini 180ml – not just in Thailand, but also in China and Japan.

“Beverage concepts such as drinksplus with konjac pearls are the future”, said global market expert Matthias Krusche. “Intensive workshops and projects with food manufacturers in Asia have shown us that beverages whose extra benefit is underscored by the inclusion of healthy, natural bits are very much in demand among manufacturers and consumers alike. The range of options for possible combinations is huge – and the technical feasibility is there thanks to our drinksplus technology. Products can be devised according to desired target group. Viable product options range from milk, whey and yogurt beverages containing bits of fruit or vegetables all the way to extras such as walnut pieces or corn, or exotic grains such as Job’s Tears. So we’ll be seeing some really innovative products in the near future. And not just in Asia. In South America, the market launch of the first drinks*plus* products is all set to go ahead”.

Source: SIG Combibloc