Senior leaders from Asahi, PerfectTed and Royal Swinkels will speak at Just Drinks' two-day Innovation in Non-Alcoholic Beverages conference this week.
The annual event, hosted together with sister events arm Arena International, will delve into the latest trends shaping the market for non-alcoholic drinks and how businesses are looking to capitalise.
The event takes place on Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 September, at 155 Bishopsgate in London.
The first day of the conference will open with a breakfast briefing on a hot topic in the industry - GLP-1s, hosted by GlobalData analysts Thomas Evans and Magda Dziuba. Those who would like to attend the briefing must register their interest in advance.
Wednesday's morning line-up will also see Flemming Morth, the director of new drinks at Dutch beer business Royal Swinkels, explore the rationale behind the group's entry into 0.0% wine.
In the afternoon, Emma Thackray, founder of UK soda brand Hip Pop, and Marina DelMonte, strategic category lead at Nestlé's waters business in the UK, among others, will discuss what "trailblazing innovation" in functional drinks means in in 2026.
For those interested in THC beverages, another panel from Tim O'Neill, chief operating officer at US hemp CBD and THC ingredients supplier Sōrse Technology, will delve into the the opportunity, challenges and the future of this category.
To round off the first day, Teddie and Levi Levinche, the co-founders of UK matcha brand PerfectTed, will present a keynote speech on innovation in energy drinks and launching functional beverages to "capture specific moods and lifestyle moments".
Day two will open with a talk from Flaminia Carbonari, the innovation and insights lead at Asahi's Europe & International arm, on the shift to functional benefits in flavoured non-alcoholic beer.
Roundtable sessions will feature on the second day, offering further opportunities for networking.
Thursday afternoon will also see several panels. One of those will explore the outlook of functional beverages. Speakers, including the founder of kombucha brand Fix8, Freya Twigden, and Sentia Spirits managing director Jerome Pelloud will discuss topics such as what is driving the move towards "function-first" drinks, as well as the rise of so-called function stacking in drinks NPD.
Another panel will also explore how Japan shapes the non-alcoholic drinks landscape, led by Alex Hannon, managing director of ManhgaJo & BobaJo and Emma Self, the group's digital marketing consultant.
For more information on the conference agenda and booking details, head to the event website. We look forward to seeing you there!
