With this first edition of “Berries as ingredients monitor”, Italian Berry launches a monthly update dedicated to berries as ingredients in products, categories and sectors beyond the fresh market. The aim is to select international cases that help understand where the value of berries is moving: not only taste, but also natural colour, functionality, premiumisation, clean label, wellbeing and innovation.
This first monitor highlights three key signals: the strengthening of berries in functional beverages, the growing connection between berries and beauty-from-within, and the increasing interest in ingredients derived from by-products or from less conventional berries, such as cranberry, blackcurrant and haskap.
Three key signals of the month
- Berries are becoming beverage platforms: strawberry, açai, blueberry and cranberry are no longer just flavours, but codes of freshness, energy, colour and naturalness.
- The beauty frontier is expanding: gummies, functional powders and cosmetics use berries as ingredients consistent with skin, antioxidants, the microbiome and wellbeing.
- Industrial value is growing beyond the whole fruit: powders, extracts, flavours, seed oils, upcycled ingredients and flavour systems are creating new opportunities for the supply chain.
Starbucks brings Strawberry Açaí into retail
The Starbucks Strawberry Açaí Lemonade Refresher case is interesting because it shows how a berry can become a true brand platform. The strawberry-açaí combination originated in the coffee shop channel, but has now been extended to at-home consumption through ready-to-drink formats and concentrates for home preparation.
Here, the berry is not just a simple flavour. Strawberry works as an immediate code of freshness and pleasure, while açai adds a more exotic, functional and contemporary component. The result is a product that appeals to young consumers who are used to customisable, colourful, Instagrammable beverages perceived as lighter than traditional soft drinks.
Value for the supply chain: the case confirms that berries can generate value also as a beverage language, not only as an agricultural ingredient. For growers and fresh produce brands, this is an important signal: berry consumption is also built outside the refrigerated aisle.
Meiji Frubi: blueberry, pomegranate and beauty-from-within
In the functional gummies segment, Meiji Frubi Blueberry & Pomegranate is one of the strongest cases. The product combines fruit juice, blueberry, pomegranate, collagen, polyphenols and ceramides, with a clear beauty-from-within positioning.
In this case, blueberry is not used only to provide flavour. It is part of a system of meanings that connects antioxidants, beauty, skin and everyday wellbeing. The gummy format makes the product accessible, enjoyable and close to the snack world, while the claim moves it into the territory of nutraceuticals and ingestible cosmetics.
Value for the supply chain: blueberry confirms its strength as a “bridge” ingredient between food, wellness and beauty. For breeders and processors, this type of application can increase interest in intense aromatic profiles, marked colour and processed forms suitable for functional formulas.
Ocean Spray: cranberry in powder and snack formats
Ocean Spray continues to demonstrate the industrial flexibility of cranberry. Its new on-the-go drink mixes, made with cranberry juice powder, bring the fruit into a light, portable format suited to daily functional consumption. At the same time, the evolution of Craisins into new formats and flavours strengthens cranberry’s presence in snacking.
Cranberry is an emblematic case because it has a strong category identity: recognisable acidity, intense colour, association with wellbeing and great industrial adaptability. In powder, dried or flavoured form, it can enter beverages, snacks, cereals, bars and functional blends.
Value for the supply chain: cranberry shows how strategic it is to build a supply chain capable of transforming the fruit into multiple formats. Not only fresh fruit or juice, but modular ingredients that can be used by many industries.
Symrise: cranberry and upcycling in cosmetics
The Symrise Neo Actipone AHA Renew case moves the discussion outside food. The cosmetic ingredient is derived from by-products of cranberry juice processing and is proposed for formulations focused on skin renewal, naturalness and well-aging.
This is one of the most interesting signals for the column: the value of the berry is no longer linked only to pulp or flavour, but also to the possibility of recovering secondary fractions and transforming them into high value-added ingredients. Upcycling thus becomes an economic, environmental and narrative key.
Value for the supply chain: cosmetics can offer new destinations for by-products and fractions derived from processing. For the berry supply chain, this means thinking not only in terms of marketable product, but also of valorisable biomass.
Blackcurrant and haskap: dark berries become premium flavours
Among the scenario signals, blackcurrant and haskap deserve attention. Blackcurrant, named by McCormick as Flavor of the Year 2026, confirms the interest in more intense, tart, dark and sophisticated flavour profiles. Haskap, indicated by some ingredients operators as an emerging flavour, fits into the same trend: a lesser-known berry capable of communicating novelty, colour and complexity.
These fruits can find space in beverages, infusions, cocktails, desserts, confectionery, premium yogurt and functional products. Unlike strawberry and blueberry, which are already very familiar to consumers, blackcurrant and haskap can work as distinctive ingredients for more adult, premium or experimental products.
Value for the supply chain: dark berries open up interesting possibilities for those seeking varietal and sensory differentiation. Colour, acidity, anthocyanins and flavour profile become formulation assets.
Category of the month: functional beverages
The most dynamic category in this first monitor is functional beverages. Refreshers, light energy drinks, powder mixes, smoothies, flavoured waters and iced teas use berries to build a fresh, natural and visually strong positioning.
The berry works particularly well in beverages because it combines three elements: immediately recognisable colour, accessible taste and a spontaneous association with wellbeing. In addition, the beverage format makes it possible to communicate ingredients such as antioxidants, vitamins, natural energy, hydration and clean label in a simple and direct way.
Berry of the month: cranberry
Cranberry is the berry of the month because it appears in multiple directions: drink mixes, snacks, pet food, supplements and cosmetics. It is one of the most interesting fruits to monitor because it already has a strong industrial infrastructure and an established functional reputation.
Its acidity, intense red colour and association with wellbeing make it particularly suitable for processed products. In addition, upcycling cases show that the value of cranberry can also extend beyond food, opening spaces in cosmetics and botanical ingredients.
Berries as a lens for reading new trends
The first screening confirms that berries are becoming a cross-sector grammar of innovation. In the products analysed, the berry is not used only to “give flavour”, but to communicate naturalness, health, colour, experience, premium positioning and functionality.
For the supply chain, this means paying closer attention to alternative destinations for the product, processed forms, by-products and industry requirements. More aromatic varieties, more intense colours, tart profiles, anthocyanin content, stability in processing and consistency with functional claims may become increasingly relevant parameters.
The next monitor will focus in particular on three areas: new launches in beverages, beauty-from-within applications and B2B ingredients based on blueberry, cranberry, blackcurrant and haskap.
