\u201cAshwagandha has built over a decade of consumer awareness and clinical research in the supplement world, so F&B manufacturers get a familiar, trusted ingredient story without having to educate the market from scratch,\u201d says Gupta.<\/p>\n
Prasanthi Sampara, manager of medical affairs at Ixoreal Biomed, similarly identifies ready-to-drink beverages, functional shots, and coffee and tea blends as areas showing strong movement.<\/p>\n
\u201cAshwagandha is increasingly appearing in kombucha, sparkling water, smoothies, and other everyday beverage formats, moving it beyond the traditional capsule or powder aisle,\u201d she tells Food Ingredients First.<\/p>\n
Sampara adds that Ixoreal\u2019s KSM-66 ashwagandha extract has been incorporated into more than 45 delivery formats worldwide, spanning beverages, functional foods, confectionery, and sports nutrition.<\/p>\n
Innova data suggest that the botanical is also being positioned across several overlapping areas of health. Energy and alertness claims appeared on 35% of launches between July 2025 and June 2026, while immune and brain health positionings each appeared on 23%.<\/p>\n
This positioning suggests that ashwagandha is not confined to relaxation concepts. It can also feature in formulations addressing focus, daytime energy, exercise performance, recovery, and resilience.<\/p>\n
Regional and formulation opportunities<\/p>\n
North America accounted for 43% of global F&B launches featuring ashwagandha from July 2025 to June 2026. Asia represented 27%, followed by Europe at 20%. Australasia accounted for 4%, Africa 3%, and the Middle East and Latin America 2% each.<\/p>\n
The ingredient combinations appearing alongside ashwagandha provide further clues about how manufacturers are positioning the botanical. Excluding flavors and preservatives, stevia was found in 22% of launches, L-theanine in 20%, and vitamin C in 14%.Innova data indicates that hot and soft drinks comprised 41% of global F&B launches featuring ashwagandha in 2025\u20132026.<\/p>\n
The presence of stevia points to demand for reduced-sugar or sugar-free<\/a> functional products, while L-theanine reinforces ashwagandha\u2019s role in calmness, focus, and mood-oriented formulations. Vitamin C enables manufacturers to connect the botanical with more established nutritional and immunity positionings.<\/p>\n However, low-sugar formulations can make ashwagandha\u2019s sensory characteristics harder to manage.<\/p>\n Tackling bitterness and sedimentation<\/p>\n Ashwagandha naturally carries bitter, earthy, and vegetal notes that can conflict with the clean, refreshing profiles expected from functional waters and ready-to-drink beverages.<\/p>\n \u201cAt typical inclusion levels, it is very difficult to mask in a clean label, low-sugar product without heavy flavor masking,\u201d says Gupta.<\/p>\n OmniActive developed its full-spectrum Zenroot root extract to deliver standardized withanolides at a comparatively low inclusion level. According to Gupta, reducing the amount of botanical material in a formulation helps limit its sensory footprint while improving dispersion and reducing settling.<\/p>\n