When we launched the Beverage Innovation Awards @ drinktec, selecting the categories seemed the simplest thing – after all, we’ve run successful awards schemes in this space for a decade. But, in fact, it’s proved trickier than we thought, and when you’re driven by innovation, that’s a ‘nice problem to have’.
With just three weeks to go until entries close, it has been really interesting to look at the entries and enquiries so far, and where they fit in this exciting annual celebration of excellence and innovation.
Relatively new categories such as coconut water have caused a challenge.
I’ve written so often about the fact that coconut water isn’t ‘water’ and that coconut milk isn’t ‘milk’. That’s right, it’s juice! But we have had so many enquiries from that category that we’re pointing them at the ‘Best juice or juice drink’, ‘Best new beverage concept’, and of course ‘Best functional drink’ categories.
Another ‘new’ category is water enhancers. Kicked off by Kraft’s Mio, they’re taking a wider space, embracing functionality, and they are fast becoming a new shot-drink-style phenomenon. Depending on their ingredients, they fit into the ‘Best functional drink’, ‘Best sports or fitness drink’ (sponsored by Beneo), ‘Best flavoured water’, ‘Best functional water’ and ‘Best new beverage concept’ categories.
We’ve just completed our annual Dairy Innovation Awards and two strong moves in dairy drinks have caught our imagination. The first is what I recently described as the new ‘breakfast in a bottle’ category, with fibre, protein and cereal ingredients adding value. ‘Best dairy drink’ is the appropriate category for this new generation of breakfast-on-the-go products, but some also fit into ‘Best functional’ and several will doubtless appear in the ‘Best packaging design or label’ category too.
In the last couple of years, protein and protein-based drinks have moved seamlessly from bodybuilders to everyday consumption, often taking the humble milkshake to new target consumers, including what Arla recently described as ‘balanced blokes’. ‘Best functional drink’ and ‘Best dairy drink’ are where these products fit best, and of course we’ll be expecting to see them also appear in the ‘Best brand marketing campaign or activation’ category too.
Otherwise, for this year, we’ve added a few extra categories where we’re expecting an exciting range of entries: ‘Best bottled beer’ (sponsored by Owens-Illinois, ‘Best mixer or ready to drink cocktail’, ‘Best ready to drink coffee’ and ‘Best ready to drink tea’.
The other categories are all attracting huge interest, from ingredients through packaging to sustainability, with the ‘Best environmental sustainability initiative’ category (sponsored by PTI) already impressing us with some truly inspiring step-change technologies.
In packaging, all the various media are receiving strong interest from PET and glass (sponsored by Owens-Illinois) to cans and alubottles and cartons and pouches. The ‘Best closure’ and ‘Best technology innovation’ categories are sponsored by Smartseal.
All in all, we’re expecting a record number of entries in this year’s awards and are grateful to our headline sponsor Rexam and to associate sponsors Aptar, Sensient Flavors, Owens-Illinois and Smartseal.
If you’re unsure as to where your product, packaging or ingredient fits into the awards, just give us a call, and be sure to have your entry with us by the deadline on 19 July.
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