Consumers are looking to improve their diets, by not only eating healthier foods but also drinking beverages that are healthier and refreshing. As the growth of carbonated soft drinks decline, vegetables are gaining in a big way. According to a recent article at Beverage Daily, vegetables are not only being used in beverages such as fruit juice to fight the sugar content, they’re also in demand in other food categories.

Last month, representatives from SVZ, Naturex, and Mintel spoke at Food Ingredients Europe. SVZ sales director, Johan Cerstiaens, said that rhubarb, cucumber, and other vegetables are growing in popularity with consumers, as these vegetables offer refreshment. SVZ is an industrial processed fruit and vegetable ingredients supplier.

Baptiste Demur, business manager at Naturex, a company that specializes in natural ingredients, said that cucumber is hydrating and refreshing, the perfect vegetable to be incorporated into a post-workout drink.

Yannick Troalen, a consultant at global market research and insight firm Mintel, discussed how consumers are incorporating vegetables into the foods and beverages they consume in an effort to improve their diets. Troalen believes beetroot, kale, and other vegetables high in nutrition value will fare well in the marketplace among consumers. He went on to say that even children’s cereals, yogurt, ice cream, and other products are using vegetable ingredients.

How will the trend of incorporating vegetables into dairy products, beverages, and other categories evolve in 2016? We’ll have to wait and see, but it appears our diets could be getting healthier.

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