Performance-driven wellness is reshaping the food and beverage industry, and the shift is happening long before it shows up in sales data.
New predictive insights from Spate suggest consumers are moving away from standalone “quick fix” products and toward integrated, daily wellness systems or solutions that fit seamlessly into routines and support long-term health.
What’s notable is where these signals are forming: in search behavior on Google, TikTok and Instagram. Digital demand is surfacing emerging priorities – from sugar reduction becoming standard, to protein evolving into everyday nutrition, to hydration transforming into a functional delivery system for immunity, detox and beauty benefits.
How does Spate identify trends before they are big?
Founded by two former Google researchers, Spate uses AI and data pulled from queries on the search engine and social media to predict the next big consumer trend, which it displays on an easy-to-use dashboard that shows what consumer interests are up, down or “popular.”
Unlike competing market data analysis from firms like Nielsen and Mintel, which track sales data, Spate’s focus on “presale signals” allow it to predict trends based off the past three years of data from Google, TikTok and Instagram to forecast consumer interests 12 months out – often before the trends make it to shelf.
“We are just seeing a huge surge in functional ingredients. People are really looking for benefits. The more benefits, the better for consumers,” said Alyssa Williams Atkinson, the food, beverage & wellness insights manager at Spate. “They really also want things incorporated into their lives to make really easy daily habits and rituals.”
For example, consumers increasingly want benefits from beverages, she said.
“We’re seeing a huge growth in hydration. It is really top of mind for consumers. They understand your body slows down when you’re dehydrated,” she said.
Likewise, “hydration is very convenient. It is very simple. It is a very accessible format, and so that is another thing that is making it really easy for consumers to adopt that trend,” she added.
Hint rebrands to better meet modern consumers’ hydration needs
Among the brands meeting consumer interest in hydration is flavor water pioneer Hint, which is rebranding with a modern look, sharper focus on zero sugar and increased package options to meet evolving consumer demand and standout from the competition.
“Eighty percent of the consumers we talk to, based on research, are really trying to hydrate more. However, 40% of them admit that they cannot reach their goal. Why is that? Well, because plain water is just boring. And that is where we think a product like Hint could come and really solve” a consumer pain point, Hint CFO Kevin Benmoussa said.
“It is bringing you extraordinary flavor with no guilt. There is no sugar. There is no sweetener. There is no preservative. It is just water and delicious flavor,” he said.
While much of the line focuses on light fruit flavors, the brand recently debuted “very surprising flavors” for the summer, including creamsicle and classic frozen pop flavor, he added.
Hint’s sweetener-free status is an important competitive advantage for the brand given sugar reduction is becoming a baseline expectation as consumers better understand the connection between their diet and health.
“We are seeing 160% year-over-year growth for sugar-free snacks” in Spate’s analysis, which also influences beverages, said Atkinson. She attributed the uptick in searches for sugar-free to the rise of GLP-1 drugs, which are altering the taste preferences of consumers using the medications, as well as educating consumers about healthier dietary choices.
Beyond hydration
While demand for hydration is on the rise, consumers often want their beverages to serve double duty – and are gravitating to options with multiple benefits.
Startup Chlorophyl water exemplifies how hydration is becoming more functional to meet more diverse demands, including detox, immunity and even beauty from within.
The brand fortifies ultra-purified water with chlorophyll from alfalfa, which creates a vibrant emerald hue, and plant-based vitamins A, B-12, C and D, said Founder Matt Levine, who proudly adds that the beverage is Clean Label Project certified.
Spate is tracking a huge uptick in the brand’s popularity on social media and Google, which Levine says is positively impacting the product’s sales.
He says there are more than 1 billion hashtags on social media associated with Chlorophyll Water, with consumers touting benefits, including detox, skincare, anti-aging, natural energy boost, antioxidants and more.
As a result, the company’s TikTok Shop is “exploding,” Levine said. He also noted the brand’s almost 70% customer return rate on Amazon and its website, which he attributes to the benefits of the beverage as well as it bright color and subtle mint flavor.
Where will protein go next?
The ongoing surge in consumer interest in protein that Spate is tracking likely isn’t a surprise for the industry, but its longevity and diversity might be.
“We are almost tired of talking about protein, but consumers are not tired of ingesting and purchasing protein,” Atkinson said, noting Spate data shows a 29.2% increase in predicted growth of protein bars, a 22% increase in protein cookies, a 30.9% increase in protein coffee and a 54.7% in clear protein.
A front runner in the clean protein space is Aloha, which is launching a new campaign to highlight how it stands out from the competition and educate consumers that not all protein bars are the same.
“Everybody is obsessed with getting more protein in their diet,” which many consumers associated with healthier food and satiety, said Julia Shapiro, VP of brand at Aloha.
But while shoppers may be focused on ‘maxxing’ protein and fiber, Shapiro says Aloha is focused on balance and offering a macronutrient profile that hits all the boxes: high protein, low sugar, natural ingredients and high fiber.
“What people should be thinking about is, holistically, is this a food that is going to satiate across all of these different demands for me, and how is it going to make me feel afterwards?” she said.
Aloha’s new national brand campaign – Taste That Grows – emphasizes the company’s focus on ingredients “that actually come from the earth, because we believe that the best tasting and most nutritious food is actually grown in the earth” not created in a lab, Shapiro said.
Along with the campaign, the company debuted two new flavors – Chocolate Cherry bar, which includes “real bits of cherry in it” and which is dipped in USDA Organic chocolate, and Cookies & Crème, which is dipped in a white chocolate coating for a “very decadent, very delicious” product that delivers 14 grams of plant-based fiber, 6-10 grams of fiber and under 5 grams of sugar.
As Spate’s data — and these brands — make clear, innovation isn’t just about what’s new. It’s about what’s scaling.
And if predictive signals hold, the brands winning in 2026 will be those aligning early with less sugar, more function and everyday wellness that feels effortless.
