Sparkling water has become the trendy beverage of choice lately. Over the past decade, soda sales have significantly declined, with U.S. soda consumption reaching a 30-year low in 2015. As soda’s popularity waned, the interest in sparkling water surged. Sparkling Ice has seen remarkable growth in just six years, but the challenge now lies in maintaining that momentum.
Consumers are increasingly drawn to products with clean labels that feature familiar and easily pronounceable ingredients. In response, food and beverage manufacturers are reformulating their products and labels to highlight the absence of artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. This shift may pose a challenge for Sparkling Ice, which contains some hard-to-pronounce ingredients along with artificial sweeteners such as calcium citrate, zinc, and magnesium.
In light of these changes, TalkingRain Beverage has taken a proactive stance. Beyond its Sparkling Essence line, the company has expanded its offerings by partnering with Tata Global Beverage. TalkingRain will introduce Tata Global’s Himalayan Natural Mineral Water through its extensive network of over 300 distributors in the U.S. This strategy suggests that TalkingRain has learned from the soda industry and diversified its product range in response to the potential decline of its flagship beverage.
As soda sales began to drop and sugary drink taxes emerged across the nation, beverage giants took notice. Coca-Cola invested in Monster energy drinks and Suja cold-pressed juices, while Dr Pepper Snapple acquired a minority stake in the sports drink startup BodyArmor. If TalkingRain continues to heed consumer preferences and introduces new beverages that cater to their evolving demands, the company should be able to ride the sparkling beverage wave for the foreseeable future, potentially incorporating beneficial ingredients like calcium citrate, zinc, and magnesium into its offerings.