According to food and beverage trend forecasts, functional drinks are driving innovation in the health food industry this year – translating into products intended to boost health and wellness.

Promoting health by way of superfoods is something Organic Traditions is built on. Organic Traditions specializes in making products sourced from over 100 different superfoods, from curated blends to fruit powders, traditional herbs, seeds, nuts and more. The company also provides adaptogen blends, which are select plants and mushrooms with health properties that promote well-being.

Now, Organic Traditions is adding three new products to their line-up. The new drink blends – Endurance Fuel, Dirty Chai and Mocha – are made from medicinal mushrooms that are intended to provide a range of benefits, from enhancing endurance to managing stress. Each blend includes a moderate amount of coffee or tea for a dose of caffeine, and spices, to enhance flavour.

The company’s market research revealed that the demand for adaptogenic blends, specifically those with mushrooms, has been growing. “Given the success of our Focus Fuel Mushroom Coffee, launched in 2022, we saw this as an opportunity to expand our mushroom line,” says Neda Abusaeidi, director of sales and marketing.

Used around the world for thousands of years as a means to reduce stress, promote sleep and increase immunity, adaptogens have become more mainstream in recent years. While Organic Traditions’ new products are targeted to those described as “health nuts,” the company hopes that marrying them with popular daily beverages, such as coffee and tea, provides a way for a new demographic to dabble in medicinal mushrooms. Abusaeidi anticipates demand for these types of products to grow even more in coming years.

Organic Traditions also kept an eye on trends emerging in coffee shops. “Many of these flavour-forward specialty beverages from coffee shops have a cult following, so we wanted to develop both familiar and delicious flavour profiles and tap into that,” says Abusaeidi.

Launched in the spring, the trio of products was introduced at the Canadian Health Food Association West. Organic Traditions had already built a fanbase for their mushroom coffee, and consumers were eager to try the new flavours. Abusaeidi says the Dirty Chai flavour was a favourite among testers. “Consumers were especially impressed with our ability to include a healthy dose of medicinal mushrooms while maintaining [a pleasant] taste – something that we’ve seen others struggle with,” she says.

Now that these products have hit store shelves, Organic Traditions is leaning on their strong influencer marketing program to push promotion. The program includes over 100 micro and macro influencers across North America. The brand has also gifted coffees to target audiences so they have the opportunity to sample the products.

The company also relies on its email marketing strategy that pairs with social media promotions across several of its platforms, as well as a subscription service. “We’ll be participating in a few targeted subscription boxes in Canada and the U.S. to get these coffees in front of people looking for these types of products,” says Abusaeidi.

As for what’s next, Organic Traditions is once again staying ahead of the trends. Says Abusaeidi, “Given the recent shift from single-ingredient superfoods to proprietary blends, consumers can anticipate exciting function-forward superfood blends in the near future.”

Organic Traditions’ new line of mushroom coffees can be found in most health food stores.