Ancient Remedies Become Trendy Beverages, Raw Tea Breaks Through, HPP Sparks Explosion…Who's Defining the Era of "Infinite Segmentation" in the Beverage Industry

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The ongoing restructuring of people, goods, and venues, along with increasingly refined consumer demands, positions China’s beverage market at a new growth turning point.

Over the past three years, “health” has shifted from a trend to a surge—sugar-free drinks have seen double-digit growth, functional beverages lead in growth across categories, and “transparent ingredients” and “low sugar, no additives” have become core decision factors for consumers. However, as all brands rush into the health track, where does true differentiation come from?

The answer points to two fundamental changes: health needs becoming increasingly segmented, and consumption scenarios continuously diversifying.

New categories such as sugar-free tea, functional water, and Chinese health drinks are emerging rapidly, with brands seeking growth breakthroughs through functional storytelling and scenario reconstruction. Meanwhile, channel structures and consumer hotspots are evolving quickly, pushing innovation logic from “betting on a hit product” to “building continuous product momentum.”

This is the core theme that the 2026 Foodaily Innovation Expo “Beverage Innovation” category forum aims to analyze: How does functional segmentation create new opportunities? Where are the breakthroughs in the tea drink sector? How can brands capture trends, amplify hit products, and achieve symbiosis and win-win with emerging channels in a rapidly changing environment?

Under the theme “Focusing on Health, Reshaping Growth,” the 2026 Foodaily Global Food & Beverage Innovation Expo will be held from April 15-17 at the China Wuxi International Conference Center. We will gather leading brands, emerging forces, and channel operators to explore potential categories and innovation mechanisms from functional differentiation, innovation models, and category restructuring, providing in-depth insights and strategies to find a clear, differentiated growth path amid intense competition.

Beverage Innovation: Infinite Segmentation, Creating New Categories

The beverage sector is never short of new concepts. Which niche categories are becoming the “catalysts” stirring the market? What emerging channels are focusing on which niche categories? Looking ahead, which high-growth potential categories should brands focus on?

Cheng Hao, Growth Director and Senior Research Director of the Beverage Industry at Ipsos, will kick off this category forum with in-depth insights, using data and trends to map out the path of “infinite segmentation” in the beverage category.

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Say Goodbye to the “Bet on a Hit” Era:

How to Systematically Build a Hit Product System?

In the past, the beverage industry often relied on “betting” on the next big product. But as channels change faster and consumer hot spots cycle more quickly, markets won by luck will eventually falter without a solid system. Moving from “luck-based” to “system-based” is a critical survival threshold for brands.

From Hit Product Racing to Matrix Leadership—The Next Decade of Speed and Healthy Trend Drinks

As sugar-free becomes standard and health concepts become mainstream, what will win in the next decade? Just three years old, QingShang (Light Up) has answered with its “Half-Step Fast Strategy.” Its “1+9” brand matrix and hit product replication model prove that even in a red ocean, speed can be achieved.

QingShang General Manager Zhang Xiaolin will analyze this methodology: from rapid product R&D responses, forward-looking channel positioning, to iterative marketing strategies—how to build full-chain capabilities and redefine the next decade of healthy trend drinks.

Building Friendships with Channels, Co-Creating Explosive Fruit & Vegetable Juices for Innovation and Growth

As consumer demand shifts from “tasty” to “useful,” how can brands accurately target and continuously create hits? Today, with channel influence growing, the relationship between brands and channels is evolving from supply and sales to deep co-creation. From jointly defining new categories to reverse-driven R&D, a complete co-creation mechanism supports this.

Zheng Tongjian, Partner at Leyuan Health, will share practical experience from deep co-creation with top channels, explaining the innovation logic behind raw material selection, functional ingredients, and consumption scenarios, and decoding the growth laws behind channel hits.

Roundtable | Fast, Precise, Accurate: From Luck to System—Agile Innovation Methodology for Beverage Hits

New retail channels are continuously launching around 10 SKUs per month. How can brands keep pace, turning accidental hits into inevitable ones? The answer may lie in building an agile innovation system that captures trends, enables rapid R&D, and fosters channel co-creation.

This roundtable features Zhang Xiaolin, General Manager of QingShang; Zheng Tongjian, Partner at Leyuan Health; Yan Li, Co-Founder and CEO of Happy Point (formerly Tea Xiao Kai); and Luan Luan, Client Director of Worldpanel Consumer Index, discussing how to achieve supply chain flexibility amid frequent new launches, and how to structure product tiers in a shortened hit product lifecycle.

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Functional Segmentation:

Upgrading Beverage Value and Breaking Through Scenarios

Beverages have evolved from “thirst-quenching” to carriers of “water, nutrition, functionality, and emotion.” Functional differentiation is driving comprehensive category upgrades. From traditional scenario extensions to cutting-edge technological breakthroughs, new growth points are hidden here.

Finding New Scenarios and New Consumers: How Can Traditional Categories Unlock New Growth?

Soy milk, a classic breakfast choice, has long been a “supporting role.” Joyoung’s soy milk has broken this perception—by extending into meal replacements, light foods, and weight management, “Self-Discipline Soy Milk” sold 5 million bags, and “Hajimi North-South Mung Beans” sold out.

Yanjing Co-Founder Yan Qi will share how redefining products and scenarios can break traditional consumer perceptions, achieving both voice and sales surges.

Sugar-Free Tea Battle: How Does Raw Tea Rise to Over 100 Million in Sales?

As sugar-free tea faces “monotonous flavor” competition, raw tea has carved out a new value track with its distinctive “fresh and爽” experience. Innovative brands like BieYang泡泡 revived their brands through raw tea, accounting for about 60% of sales, with a repurchase rate over 48%, and annual revenue surpassing 100 million yuan.

BieYang泡泡 VP Xu Mingyang will decode the future innovation dimensions of raw tea, from Japan’s market over a decade of evolution, to Chinese consumer perceptions, and technical challenges in product craftsmanship.

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Global Innovation Tasting | Egg White, Probiotics, Plant Extracts… Creating a “New” Water

When hydration is no longer just about quenching thirst, what else can a bottle of water be? Electrolyte water grows over 50% annually, Chinese health waters surge 182%, high-protein and probiotic waters emerge one after another—hydration drinks have become the most explosive segment in ready-to-drink. How to leverage super ingredients and cutting-edge technology to achieve dual breakthroughs in functionality and taste within transparent water quality?

Foodaily Research Institute will collaborate with top upstream solution providers, showcasing global new product and hit case studies, allowing you to experience the unlocking of a “new” water firsthand.

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Category Restructuring:

Entering the “Useful” Era,

How Can Medicine and Food Homology Turn “Ancient Formulas” into “Billion-Dollar Hits”?

The boundaries of tea drinks are constantly being broken and reconstructed. Whether it’s the “medicine and food homology” ancient formulas or innovative cross-category blends, the core is upgrading “tasty” into “useful,” meeting consumers’ layered and refined needs.

Starting with a Good Juice, HPP Technology Ignites Chinese Light Functional Drinks

China’s HPP fruit and vegetable juice market has completed a critical leap from category education to large-scale volume. Retail channels like Hema and Sam’s Club have spawned a series of phenomenon-level hits. As a pioneer in China’s HPP juice sector, Weiguo Qing has spent over a decade building a delicious barrier for good juice.

In the context of mainstream demands for sugar control, light health, and emotional well-being, fruit and vegetable juices are evolving from natural drinks to light functional solutions. The concept of medicine and food homology and Chinese health principles are also revitalized through HPP cold-press technology. Moving from fruit and vegetable juice to “fruit and vegetable + functionality,” Zhang Chenling, Co-Founder of Weiguo Qing, will share how to achieve efficacy expression through raw material selection, herbal pairing, and formulation design, while balancing taste and mass acceptance.

Dialogue | Ancient Formulas, New Drinks—Breaking Boundaries and Rebirth—From the Popular Six-Flavor DiHuang Drink to the Revival of Ancient Formulas

With sales exceeding 100 million yuan in five months, the Six-Flavor DiHuang series has become a phenomenon benchmark for 2025 medicine-food homology. This summit will feature the three key operators behind the hit: Zhang Zhongjing, General Manager; Cheng Xing, and Jia Xiangdong, General Manager of Sannuo Health, and Tong Jiancheng, Co-Founder of Dao Mu Marketing Consulting, analyzing the full business logic of transforming ancient formulas into food products.

Founder and CEO Li Hongshuang of Guan Chao New Consumption will discuss product formula innovation, youth-oriented branding, and omni-channel strategies, addressing core issues like homogenization, compliance, and long-term hit product sustainability, predicting the next explosive point in the medicine-food homology track.

Reviving Traditional Chinese Medicine Formulas into Trendy Drinks: Panpan’s New Second Growth Curve

A 30-year-old traditional food brand, Panpan Beverage, aims to break out of the red ocean and turn ancient formulas into popular products for young consumers. In 2025, Panpan will deliver new results: Apple Astragalus Drink with over 50,000 monthly sales at Sam’s Club, Snow Pear Loquat Juice as a seasonal bestseller, surpassing 1 billion yuan in beverage sales, and new Chinese-style health series grossing 230 million yuan, becoming the group’s second growth driver.

Panpan representatives will analyze how to deploy long-term strategic planning in new categories, support mass customization with flexible R&D systems, and realize the concept of “one channel, one product” from concept to implementation.

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In an increasingly competitive and homogenized market, how to break growth bottlenecks and build sustainable competitive advantages remains a core challenge for the entire beverage industry.

The answer may lie in the three core propositions of this category forum: moving from accidental hits to systematic approaches; driving category value upgrades through functional segmentation; and shifting from “tasty” to “useful” via category restructuring.

As health needs become more segmented and consumption scenarios diversify, every participant in the beverage industry is seeking the same path—how to carve out a unique route in the red ocean. At the 2026 Foodaily Innovation Expo “Beverage Innovation” category forum, we have prepared case studies, methodologies, and industry peers. The rest is up to you to explore together.

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More Schedule Details

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What will you take away from three days?

1. Top-Level Thinking: Aligning with 170+ Business Leaders and Industry Experts to Clarify Growth Logic for the Next Decade

One ecosystem conference + 11 category & theme forums: Over 170 speakers, 87 top industry leaders sharing in-depth insights, helping you understand industry trends and identify opportunities; (Note: Confirmed speakers for the 2026 Foodaily Innovation Expo)

Top-tier expert lineup, supported by cutting-edge technology:

In dairy, including Dr. Xiao Jinzong, Chief Scientist at Morinaga; Dr. Jiao Siming from the Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Associate Researcher Liu D Song from Jiangnan University Food College, discussing breakthroughs in raw materials, nutrition, and technology;

In functional foods and microecology, including Blue Canghui, Director of Heartfelt Research Institute; Dr. Zhou Jinrong from Harvard Medical School, exploring ingredient innovation and scientific validation pathways;

In sensory science and product R&D, Professor Zhong Fang from Jiangnan University decoding the science behind deliciousness;

Leading R&D heads from top companies like Feihe, Infinitus, China National Pharmaceutical Group, and Sanbio will also showcase frontier research and industrial innovations.

2. Practical Solutions: Gathering Over 40 Top Operators of Billion-Level Hits to Share Real Growth Strategies!

What underlying logic enables billion-level growth? At the 2026 Foodaily Innovation Expo, we’ve invited these miracle creators!

Pepsi, McDonald’s, Morinaga, Yan Jinpuzi, Nottland, QingShang, Zhou Hei Ya, Liu Biju, Guangzhou Restaurant, Joyoung Soy Milk, Leyuan Health, Weiguo Qing, Qizan, Bobi Aisi… Over 40 leading brands and trailblazers, plus 170+ business leaders & heavyweight experts, will bring you the most practical case studies, real insights, and in-depth analysis of growth secrets in the food and beverage industry.

3. Global Inspiration: Immersive Experience of 3,000+ New & Hit Products, From Inspiration to Implementation

(1) Three Days Covering Global New & Hit Products

As a key part of the global innovation expo, Foodaily Research Institute’s “Global Innovation Tasting” program curates over 3,000 new and hit product cases worldwide, plus 1,000+ benchmark cases from China selected through the iSEE Global Awards, creating an immersive, cross-category innovation experience. Within three days, you can efficiently capture trends and spark inspiration.

In 2026, we will also feature the “Future Healthy Food Ecosystem Exhibition,” with three themed zones: Super Ingredients, Hit Prototypes, Creative Packaging. From global innovation inspiration to local solutions, helping you bridge the last mile of innovation implementation.

• Super Ingredients Zone: Curated 100+ high-growth raw materials and star ingredients, from superfoods and herbal extracts to functional additives, showcasing key raw material trends behind global innovative products, with application cases and industry solutions.

• Hit Prototype Zone: Presenting verified potential products from overseas markets, with physical displays and solution cards, systematically dissecting formulas, core selling points, and innovation logic.

• Creative Packaging Zone: Showcasing 100+ innovative packaging designs validated overseas, including top domestic packaging solutions, offering one-stop connection.

(2) Expert-Led Deep Decoding! Understanding the Innovation Codes Behind Hits

To help everyone understand the innovation secrets behind successful new products, Foodaily Research Institute has organized multiple “Innovation Journey” activities, such as: medicine-food homology, low-GI foods, protein craze, packaging innovation, and private label channels.

Focusing on specific themes, industry tech experts will provide in-depth interactive explanations, penetrating the surface of global innovative products, deconstructing hidden needs behind scenarios, and exploring market development trends.

This is not just about viewing new products but understanding, tasting, learning, and taking away insights—making your next innovation more targeted, inspired, and practical.

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(3) Limited Unlock! Exclusive Innovation Guide for Attendees

In the “Global Innovation Tasting” zone, each product is equipped with a complete “Innovation ID”: highlighting innovation points, ingredients, nutritional info, etc., accessible via scanning QR codes.

This highly innovative space has attracted thousands of decision-makers, who come to experience, visit, and draw inspiration for their future innovation plans. We have prepared an exclusive innovation guide for each attendee:

• Printed “2026 Daily Food Innovation Manual”: Summarizes Foodaily’s annual trend analysis, top consumer scenarios, and case studies, for easy reference throughout the year.

• Digital “2026 Global New & Hit Product Manual”: Includes information on over 2,000 global innovative products across 7 categories, facilitating quick inspiration and market insights.

We hope your visit will not only inspire you for three days but also leave you with tangible takeaways.

When you need inspiration, suppliers, or benchmark cases, you can always open and consult these resources—keeping trends and ideas at your fingertips all year round.

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Buy Tickets and Register Now

From April 15-17, 2026, at China Wuxi International Conference Center, tickets are on group discount sale!

Click the mini program below to secure your spot and join industry-leading product innovators in embracing the next growth wave!

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Contact Us

Event Inquiry: Betty

Phone: 183 6250 6360

Media Cooperation: Jennifer

Phone: 189 1369 9249

Exhibition Inquiry: Ivey

Phone: 177 0613 0838