20 trends for 20 years

A few weeks ago, I invited views about how the beverage world might change over the next 20 years. I’m grateful for your comments and tested out my conclusions in a workshop at last month’s Global Beverages Congress in London. I am quite confident about the outlook and am happy to be held to account on some future occasion.

Here are my 20 themes for non-alcoholic beverages in the next 20 years.

1 Natural – nature is best.
2 Functional – to live better while living longer.
3 Individual – from personalised production to nutrition.
4 Online – not just transactions but also influence.
5 Sustainable – in every sense.
6 Healthier – including self checking.

Three more are contextual.

7 Demographic – more growth in Africa than Asia.
8 Economic – E7 countries to overtake G7 countries by 2020.
9 Consolidation – industry alliances while consumption fragments.

The rest are …

10 New retailing – bricks and clicks.
11 New energy – multiple emerging sources.
12 New packaging – new materials, better recycling.
13 New ingredients – and some rediscovery of tradition.
14 Local.
15 Water stress.
16 Transparency.
17 Business in society.
18 Quality of life – especially through better nutrition.
19 Combinations – of product types.
20 Alternatives – such as free from and sweeteners.

My workshop slides go into more depth and are readily available on request.