Consumers are reshaping beverage demand through polarized spending, health-first expectations, and evolving drinking occasions

• Consumers are simultaneously trading down for everyday moments and trading up for premium, health-led experiences.
• Health and functional benefits have become baseline expectations, not differentiators.
• Alcohol is increasingly optional, accelerating demand for moderation, low- and no-alcohol alternatives.
• Omnichannel behavior and packaging innovation are reshaping how beverages are discovered, purchased, and consumed.

CHICAGO, April 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Kearney released its 2026 Beverage Outlook, a new analysis of how consumers are changing what they drink, how they buy beverages, and what they expect from brands. The report finds that economic pressure, rising health consciousness, shifting social norms around alcohol, and rapid channel evolution are converging to fundamentally alter demand across the global beverage market.

“The beverage consumer is no longer predictable,” said Aman Husain, global lead, food and beverage at Kearney. “We’re seeing consumers behave very differently depending on the moment—seeking value and efficiency in routine occasions while still paying a premium for health, function, and experience when it matters. That duality is forcing companies to rethink portfolio design, routes to market, pricing architecture, and innovation priorities.”

According to the outlook, health-related expectations now cut across nearly every beverage category. Lower sugar, functional benefits, and clear nutritional signals are increasingly viewed as table stakes rather than premium features. At the same time, social attitudes toward alcohol continue to shift, with moderation expanding beyond younger demographics and becoming more broadly accepted across consumption occasions.

“Alcohol is increasingly becoming a choice rather than a default,” said Michael Ooms, Americas lead, food and beverage at Kearney. “This shift is opening the door for new formats, new occasions, and new competitors—while also putting pressure on legacy portfolios that were built for a different consumer. Leaders are responding by rebalancing legacy cost structures, accelerating innovation cycles, and investing in alternative offerings that better align with how consumers want to drink today.”

The report also highlights how consumers are becoming more channel-agnostic, moving fluidly across grocery, convenience, digital platforms, rapid delivery, and away-from-home occasions. Packaging has emerged as a critical strategic lever, with value formats, smaller portions, and sustainability-driven innovations playing a growing role in both affordability and brand differentiation.

Kearney’s 2026 Beverage Outlook outlines how beverage leaders can respond by designing portfolios that serve both value and premium needs, embedding health and function into core offerings, and treating packaging and route-to-market decisions as sources of competitive advantage rather than executional afterthoughts.

The full report is available here.

About Kearney
For 100 years, Kearney has been a leading management consulting firm and trusted partner to three-quarters of the Fortune Global 500 and governments around the world. With a presence across more than 40 countries, our people make us who we are. We work impact first, tackling your toughest challenges with original thinking and a commitment to making change happen together. By your side, we deliver—value, results, impact.

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SOURCE Kearney