Barcode debuts vegan sports drink in hyper-minimalist augmented reality bottle

01 Nov 2021 --- US sports nutrition beverage brand Barcode is launching a plant-based coconut water hydration drink for athletes. Its hyper-minimalist design emphasizes a large barcode on the front label to encourage product interactivity and consumer education.

“Content creation and consumer connectedness is driving augmented reality (AR) experiences and different barcode technologies. You can’t go anywhere without scanning a code or seeing a barcode, so we thought it would be a great idea to integrate these trends into our minimalistic label approach,” Barcode CEO Mubarak Malik tells PackagingInsights.

According to Innova Market Insights data, 43% of US consumers are “most interested” in minimalist and simplistic packaging designs. 

Meanwhile, 57% of US consumers want to access nutrition information when using connective packaging technologies, followed by ingredient traceability (37%) and company transparency (34%). 

The Lemon Lime and Watermelon Barcode drinks are sweetened with monk fruit and rich in rhodiola, shiitake and cordyceps adaptogens, magnesium, B vitamins, and vitamin D. 

Barcode sports drinks target the trending recovery, mood, endurance and immunity positionings.“We wanted a beverage not filled with excessive amounts of sugar, colorings and artificial ingredients like every other traditional sports beverage. There isn’t another sports drink in the market that has vitamin D from a plant or adaptogens,” argues Malik.

However, Innova Market Insights recently reported about four in five product launches with adaptogens are found in the sports nutrition and supplement categories (Global, 2020). For example, Eat Beyond’s Daydream Drinks are filled with adaptogens and positioned as an alternative to coffee and conventional energy drinks.

Reinventing sweetness
Concern over sugar intake and interest in sugar reduction is driving a sophisticated approach to F&B sweeteners, Innova Market Insights further notes. The market researcher says there is a clear focus on natural sweeteners, less sweetening and no sweetness. 

Barcode sports the prominent “no added sugars” claim, which has seen a CAGR increase of 16% between 2016 and 2020. “No added sugar” leads ahead of claims like “sugar-free” (14% CAGR growth), “reduced sugar” (11%) and “low sugar” (7%).

Moreover, Innova Market Insights has observed a 33% increase in average annual growth in F&B launches tracked with “monk fruit” (Global, 2016-2020), which is Barcode’s non-calorie sweetener. 

“Barcode’s ingredients support hydration, recovery and immunity. Athletes don’t just play games; they live life like everyone else in the world outside of the field or the court and we wanted a beverage that everyone could enjoy,” says Malik.

Message on the bottle
The bottle design stands out due to its small-lettered font, excessive blank space and emphasized front barcode label. 

Malik expects consumer product interactivity to become more important in the beverage sector, pinpointing opportunities such as 3D avatars.In a 2021 Innova Market Insights’ consumer survey, 30% of US consumers reported being at least somewhat interested in AR technology on F&B packaging, just behind the global average of 46%.

“Scannable tech [can be a great tool] when it’s being used to educate consumers about the product, hosting behind-the-scenes content, or serving to enhance user engagement,” comments Malik. “I think it’s not desirable when the content doesn’t do anything to educate consumers and becomes a distraction.”

PackagingInsights previously spoke with creative design studios about the do’s and don’ts of employing minimalist aesthetics on F&B packaging designs in a recent roundtable discussion, and the advent of non-fungible tokens taking digital packaging design by storm.

In related news, creative tech company Appetite Creative and Swiss dairy company Emmi launched an AR-enabled connectivity experience on Tetra Pak’s Tetra Stelo Aseptic 1000 carton packs, aiming to encourage healthy consumer lifestyles via its “good day” milk portfolio.

By Anni Schleicher