From a definitional standpoint, functional beverages refer to drinks that help regulate bodily functions by adjusting nutritional components and their content ratios. They include multiple subcategories such as energy drinks, vitamin drinks, mineral drinks, sports drinks, probiotic drinks, and immune-enhancing beverages. According to data from Precedence Research, from 2022 to 2030, the global functional beverage market size is expected to reach $129.3 billion, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.94%. The functional beverage market is transitioning from the dominance of energy and sports drinks to a focus on diverse needs such as gut health, beauty maintenance, weight management, sleep improvement, and fat reduction.

Facing fierce competition and diversified consumer demands, brands need not only to meet consumers' diverse expectations in taste and product categories but also to achieve breakthroughs in healthy ingredients and functional benefits. For example, VINA's functional soda centers on brain and gut health, helping to balance multiple neurotransmitters in the body. Mighty Pop, on the other hand, has launched a prebiotic soda in the United States, with each bottle containing 1 billion live bacteria. In the future, how to provide consumers with an ideal functional experience under diversified demands will become an important topic for brands.