Author Caitlin WharmbyPosted on Categories Content Marketing, Digital Marketing, Public Relations, Social MediaWellness drinks used to be sold like medicine: functional ingredients, scientific claims and packaging that looked like it belonged on a chemist’s shelf. But the brands cutting through in 2026 are doing something different – they’re building products around moments, habits and lifestyles first, then letting the wellness story support it.
There are more functional drinks on shelves than ever.
Electrolytes, mushroom coffee, magnesium drinks, gut health shakes and every week seems to bring a new ingredient we’re all supposed to know about.
The interesting thing here is that the brands winning in this space aren’t always the ones shouting the loudest about what’s inside the can- they’re the ones making wellness feel relevant to everyday life.
Humantra realised most people aren’t training for a marathon
For years, electrolytes belonged pretty much exclusively to athletes, but Humantra spotted something many brands missed.
Most people aren’t training for a marathon, they’re just trying to stay hydrated through a long day at work, a delayed flight or a generally busy week.
What’s really clever is that it hasn’t just reinvented the wheel (in this case, electrolytes). It has simply stopped talking to people like they’re about to run the London Marathon.
For me, that’s what makes the brand interesting – it feels like a hydration brand for normal life, not just for sports.
Lucky Saint sells the occasion
A lot of alcohol-free brands still focus on what isn’t in the product, whilst Lucky Saint focuses on what people are still getting – like the pub on a Friday night, or your mate’s wedding. The social side of drinking.
Even its move into functional drinks with an electrolyte lager earlier this year feels true to that approach. It’s not trying to become a wellness brand overnight, it’s giving people another reason to reach for its product across different moments.
DIRTEA made an intimidating category feel familiar
If you’d told me a few years ago that people would happily spend money on mushroom coffee, I’d have laughed, but DIRTEA has done a good job of making it feel approachable.
Instead of asking consumers to completely change their routine, the products slot into habits people already have – coffee in the morning, matcha in the afternoon.
You don’t need a deep understanding of lion’s mane to understand where the product fits in your day and that makes it more accessible.
TRIP proved wellness doesn’t have to be worthy
“Calm” is a difficult thing to put in a can, but TRIP’s success has come from making that benefit feel accessible rather than overly scientific.
The branding is approachable, whilst the flavours feel familiar and the products naturally fit into moments when people want to switch off, unwind or swap alcohol for something different.
We’ve all seen brands trying to jump on the wellness trend, and what TRIP gets right, is that it doesn’t feel like homework.
Living Things turned gut health into a lifestyle proposition
Gut health is one of the biggest conversations in food and drink right now. The challenge is that it isn’t always the easiest thing to market. Start talking about microbiomes, prebiotics and digestive health and you risk losing people pretty quickly.
Most people don’t wake up wanting to learn about their microbiome, they just want to feel better, and Living Things seems to understand that.
The branding is colourful, and the proposition is simple with the focus feeling broader than digestive health alone. Rather than presenting gut health as a medical issue to solve, the brand positions it as part of a wider wellbeing routine, which I think is a really smart move.
A lot of consumers are interested in feeling better, having more energy or making healthier choices, they’re not necessarily interested in becoming experts on gut health along the way.
So what are these brands getting right?
It’s tempting to look at the wellness drinks category and assume the next breakthrough will come from a new ingredient, but I’m not convinced.
The brands gaining attention right now aren’t winning because they’ve discovered a miracle ingredient, they’re doing well because they’ve made wellness feel familiar and accessible, rather than exclusive.
They’ve found ways to slot into routines that already exist rather than asking consumers to build entirely new ones. They provide a drink for the commute, or a post-run ritual. Even something to replace that second coffee or evening glass of wine, and that’s a much harder thing to achieve than launching a new flavour or adding another benefit to the can.
The drinks market isn’t short of functional products. It’s short of brands people genuinely connect with, and I suspect that’s where the next phase of growth will come from. Not products doing more, but brands getting better at explaining why anyone should care in the first place.
For food, drink and wellness brands, the challenge isn’t always finding the next new ingredient, it’s finding the story that makes people care. If that’s something you’re thinking about, get in touch: hello@prohibitionpr.co.uk.
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