Got COVID-somnia? Newest Functional Beverage Helps You Sleep

PepsiCo announced that it is releasing a functional water called Driftwell, which is aimed at reducing stress and improving relaxation. The product containers 200g of L-theanine, an amino acid, and 10% of the daily value of magnesium. Some studies have indicated that L-theanine can help improve sleep with fewer disturbances along with other possible benefits.

Driftwell is being offered in blackberry lavender flavor, and is expected to be available online in December and on retail shelves in 1Q 2021.

This product capitalizes on consumer shifts to functional food and beverage items that have some sort of health benefit attached to them. This has been particularly important as consumers in the pandemic era look for ways to improve their body’s immune response or mitigate the effects of the current world.

Reponses to the August edition of the Freedonia National Online Consumer Survey show how some of these trends play out:

• 46% of respondents strongly or somewhat agreed that the coronavirus pandemic was having a negative effect on their ability to sleep.
• 78% of respondents indicated that they were strongly or somewhat concerned that the current coronavirus was a health threat to them personally.
• 84% said that they were that they were strongly or somewhat concerned about the pandemic as a health threat to their family.

For more information and discussion of opportunities, see Packaged Facts’ food- and beverage-related reports, including US Beverage Market Outlook 2020: Grocery Shopping & Personal Consumption in the Coronavirus Era, US Food Market Outlook 2020: Home Cooking, Grocery Shopping & Food Trends in the Age of Coronavirus, and Food Carryout & Delivery as well as the companion report with timely consumer insights from our in-house survey capabilities. The Freedonia Group’s extensive collection of off-the-shelf research provides a strong complement to packaged food industry analysis, including packaging industry titles such as Foodservice Single-Use Products, Global Foodservice Single-Use Products, and Global Single-Use Packaging Regulations. Freedonia Custom Research is also available for questions requiring tailored market intelligence.