Functional mushrooms have gone from a niche coffee-and-tea add-in to one of the fastest-growing corners of the functional beverage market — and the category is still just getting started. Beverage Industry recently spoke with Imbibe Technical Marketing Associate Isabel Mirfakhraie for a roundup on where mushroom-forward beverages are headed next.
Three takeaways worth knowing:
Mushrooms are moving into categories that haven’t traditionally carried a wellness positioning. Isabel points to juice, sparkling water, sports and hydration beverages, RTD cocktails, mocktails, and even bone broth-based drinks as ripe for mushroom-forward line extensions — well beyond the coffee and tea formats where the category first took hold.
The format itself is expanding, not just the flavor profile. Beyond RTDs, Isabel expects growth in RTMs (ready-to-mix), concentrated energy shots, and oral pouches — delivery formats that open up new occasions for functional mushrooms altogether.
Brands are stacking functionality, not just adding it. Combining mushrooms with other nootropics — like l-theanine for a calm-plus-focus effect — is one path forward. Isabel also points to mushrooms’ potential in digestive and immune-support formats, an angle with built-in appeal for the growing GLP-1-adjacent wellness audience.
As Isabel put it, mushrooms are shifting “from niche adaptogenic drinks into more every day, mainstream formats as brands look to stack functionality.”
Read the full article, featuring perspectives from across the functional beverage industry, at Beverage Industry.
Work with Imbibe to bring functional ingredients, mushrooms included, into a beverage that actually works.
