LIFEAID Beverage Co.'s 2020 Predictions

Our predictions for the beverage industry, CPG brands, fitness trends and what else… CBD drinks.

Aaron Hinde (with whom I co-founded LIFEAID) and I had the opportunity and foresight to market our first functional drinks to the intensely devout CrossFit community – long before other brands followed us into ‘the box.’ It was a new idea then and all entrepreneurs should explore new ideas constantly, while remaining focused on the fundamentals of brand and business. As 2019 draws to a close, we and our team are celebrating an exceptional year of growth because of that focus:

• retail sales for LIFEAID drinks are up almost 90%,
• retail doors tripled since 2018, to 40,000 locations in 2019.

Formulating new products based on meticulous research and a dedication to functionality keep us on top of ingredient trends. Aaron and I emphasize the importance of conscious capitalism (something I've written about before) across the LIFEAID business and monitor the company’s success against current and emerging business trends. And our mutual personal interest in and dedication to fitness, keeps our team on top of current and emerging exercise and wellness trends.

With that, we want to share what we can with other entrepreneurs in the beverage industry, as 2020 begins. Some of these predictions, we've already shared in earlier posts. This is our compilation of those predictions and a few others.

On the CBD beverage trend.

The FDA will be under pressure to provide greater clarity on rules regarding hemp-extract additives in food and beverage products, so that new guidelines will decrease risks for marketers and manufacturers, and on November 25, 2019 issued warnings to 15 companies. Bigger companies will steadily enter the category and inevitably drive pricing down. With dozens of CBD drinks being launched this year alone, start-ups solely focused on CBD with artificially high-priced products will not have the economies of scale, distribution and margin to successfully compete, and many will fold.

Update: On Black Friday 2019, LIFEAID introduced its first-ever CBD drink, aptly named LIFEAID CBD. It's been a runaway success: the entire first run sold out via our e-commerce channel, in 36 hours.

On plastic use and sustainability.

Water brands and sports drinks will be under greater pressure to shift their packaging from conventional plastics (the glut of which is worse than most people realize per The Financial Times). Hydro flasks and other re-usable containers will become more prevalent, which in turn will drive innovation toward products people mix with the liquids they already have in their water bottles.

On responsible growth and profitability.

CPG companies that pursue top line growth at the expense of sound economics will feel the same pressure that technology brands pursuing IPOs now face: an emphasis on profit and the end of operating with massive losses. Companies that raise money not for growth, but for continued operations will pay a hefty price in terms of dilution or worse yet, will lose investor trust and future investor interest. Some brands will not survive.

On plant-based protein.

As consumer concern grows about the environmental impact of beef, plant-based products, including meat alternatives, will continue to gain share. Clean label, plant-based protein products will continue to disrupt the seemingly entrenched brands like Muscle Milk. We like Koia's position in the market place. We like their packaging, their management team and current retail penetration.

On the roots of our business: fitness.

The game-ification of high intensity functional fitness, that CrossFit pioneered, will continue. Functional fitness and HIIT training without barbells or Olympic lifts will build a mainstream following and F45 will become the latest and trend-setting iteration of this. An increasing number of functional fitness startups will gain traction against the established players by incorporating mental fitness (e.g., breathing and mindset work) into their classes for a more holistic mind/body approach to fitness.

On ingredients.

The scrutiny of sweeteners like sucralose and aspartame will continue to build. Next generation sweeteners like monk fruit will continue to gain traction but will also impact formulation as brands cater to consumers’ sweetness and flavor expectations.