Category Leadership Awards: Drink Mixes

The drink mixes category appeals to consumers seeking healthier choices and a tastier alternative to plain water. The collaborations among category leaders and recognizable brands have elevated the space with intriguing flavors and creativity. As a result, consumers can stay hydrated while enjoying healthier options.

Dunkin’ Refreshers Drink Mixes resonate with consumers for several reasons. For starters, the Dunkin’ brand recognition attracts a following by offering a trusted and familiar name. “Hands down, our biggest product launch this year has been Dunkin’ Refreshers Drink Mixes,” said Jel Sert’s EVP of Sales Joe Bouma. “We took Dunkin’s wildly popular Refreshers line and moved it into a portable format that delivered on taste, function, and calories. The success comes down to meeting several needs at once. First, Dunkin’s brand recognition is off the charts. People know and love this product. Second, we developed this for real functionality at a price that beats most higher-priced functional beverages. The response has blown past our expectations, and the launch is on track to be one of the most successful in Jel Sert’s 100-year history.”

This summer, Crystal Light introduced three exciting new powdered drink flavors inspired by popular BookTok genres: romance, fantasy, and mystery. Marking its first flavor innovation since 2024, the brand unveiled Hibiscus Lemonade, Prickly Pear Lemonade and Passion Fruit flavors. The Hibiscus Lemonade flavor combines the light, sweet taste of hibiscus and lemonade, inspired by romance. Prickly Pear Lemonade offers a unique blend of prickly pear and lemonade, creating an intriguing, unexpected twist inspired by the mystery genre. Finally, Passion Fruit delivers an exotic, intense flavor inspired by fantasy. All three flavors are sugar-free, and Crystal Light believes these refreshing beverages and flavor profiles make for perfect options to serve at book club gatherings.

Jel Sert is committed to providing high-quality products with great, innovative flavors while staying true to its core focus and values. “This September, Jel Sert turns 100 years old,” Bouma said. “With the fourth generation of the family now in active leadership, we’re carrying forward a simple belief: you can’t build a company that lasts by standing still. From our very first product to this year’s Dunkin’ Refreshers, we’ve kept evolving with the consumer, delivering high-quality, great-tasting, innovative products at a real value. The marketplace has changed enormously over the past century, but our focus hasn’t: understand the consumer, anticipate what’s next, and build products that earn a place on the shelf and in people’s lives.”

“Our experience and category expertise enable us to build a portfolio that balances trusted favorites with new, trend-relevant products,” he added. 

We’re selective about where we innovate, focusing on two things: developing products that bring real value to both the consumer and the category and products that help grow the category. What sets us apart is the way our approach combines quality, choice, and strong value. Value isn’t about the lowest price; it’s about giving consumers a product that tastes great, performs consistently, and feels like it’s worth their money. Our priority is to keep creating drink mixes that are relevant to today’s consumer, while building on the trust we’ve earned over generations.”

Jel Sert has identified the two brands with the greatest growth potential in the drink mix category for next year: Dunkin’ Refreshers and Pure Kick.

“Dunkin’ Refreshers is still early in its growth story,” Bouma said. “Consumer excitement keeps building, and there’s real runway ahead—new flavors, expanded pack configurations, and high-impact displays that create visibility and drive discovery in-store. It combines the strength and familiarity of the Dunkin’ brand with the convenience, flavor, and value shoppers want. The response so far has been strong, but this brand is just getting started. At the same time, we’re accelerating Pure Kick, which is gaining momentum on bold flavor, functional benefits, and strong value. We see room to broaden its reach by bringing in new consumers and expanding across retailers, channels, and occasions. Pure Kick is well positioned to recruit new shoppers and drive incremental growth. Together, Dunkin’ Refreshers and Pure Kick give retailers two distinct growth platforms. One is built on an iconic brand and flavor innovation, and the other on functionality, value, and fast-growing demand. No retailer should be without either one.”