What KDP’s 2026 Trend Report Means for Your Next Beverage Deal
Keurig Dr Pepper just dropped their second annual State of Beverages Trend Report, and buried inside the consumer data is a message that every organization with a beverage partnership should hear: the way people choose beverages is changing faster than most beverage programs are built to handle.
The report surveyed nearly 7,000 U.S. consumers and draws on KDP’s proprietary Ipsos consumption tracker of 64,000+ respondents. The headline findings center on Gen Z and Gen Alpha (ages 13 to 29), and the numbers are striking. But the real question for operators is this: does your current beverage deal reflect how your customers actually drink?
The Report at a Glance: Six Stats That Matter
- Liquid Identity: 58% of Gen A/Z say what they drink reflects who they are (vs. 41% of Millennials+). Beverages are now a form of self-expression, not just a habit.
- Intentional Sipping: Gen A/Z are 58% more likely to choose drinks based on mood or occasion, and 40% more likely to consume beverages away from home.
- Rotation Reigns: Gen A/Z drink an average of 6 beverage categories per week (vs. 5 for Millennials+). The single “go-to” drink is disappearing.
- Redefining Wellness: 71% of Gen A/Z look for function-forward beverages. They’re ~60% more likely to drink enhanced water, 2x more likely to drink energy drinks, and ~75% more likely to drink sports drinks.
- Digital Discovery: 70% of Gen A/Z rely on reviews and ratings to find new beverages (vs. 54% of Millennials+), and 63% are influenced by friends, creators, or social feeds.
- The Coffee Cliff: 74% of Gen A/Z coffee occasions are flavored, compared to just 32% for Millennials+. That’s more than a trend. It’s a structural shift in what “coffee” means to the next generation of your customers.
Your Customers Don’t Have a “Go-To” Anymore
The single most relevant finding in the report: Gen A/Z consumers drink an average of six beverage categories per week, compared to five for Millennials and older. That might sound like a small difference, but it’s not.
Six categories means water, soda, coffee, juice, energy drinks, and tea, all in the same week. These consumers aren’t loyal to one drink. They’re building a rotation, choosing based on mood, time of day, who they’re with, and what they’re eating.
Social media posts featuring drink “lineups” and beverage rotation are up 30% year-over-year. The single go-to drink is fading, replaced by what KDP calls “Rotation Reigns.”
What this means for your deal: If your beverage program is anchored to a narrow set of SKUs, or if your contract was designed around volume commitments for a few core products, you may be structurally misaligned with where consumer behavior is heading. The best beverage partnerships negotiated today consider flexibility for new products, seasonal rotations, and category expansion built into the agreement from day one.
The Away-From-Home Tailwind Is Real
Here’s where it gets interesting for our clients specifically. Gen A/Z are 40% more likely than older generations to consume beverages away from home. That’s restaurants, airports, hospitals, entertainment venues, convenience stores. You’re forgiven if reading this gives you whiplash. In the wake of Covid, everyone was focused on delivery and at-home consumption. But the tides have shifted.
Beverage occasions are also increasingly social (59% happen with others) and paired with food (65%). These aren’t vending machine moments. They’re sit-down meals, grab-and-go stops, and group outings where the beverage choice is part of the experience.
For operators, this is a tailwind. More people are drinking more categories in more of your locations. The question is whether your beverage program is positioned to capture that demand, or whether you’re still running a program designed for a simpler era when a Coke machine in the lobby was enough.
Functional Is No Longer a Niche
The wellness data in the report confirms what we’ve been seeing in negotiations for the past two years. Younger consumers are roughly 60% more likely to drink enhanced water, 50% more likely to consume protein beverages, twice as likely to drink energy drinks, and 75% more likely to consume sports drinks ****compared to older generations.
And 71% of Gen A/Z actively look for beverages with functional benefits.
This isn’t a fringe segment. Functional beverages are becoming the expectation. If your current deal doesn’t include provisions for enhanced water, protein drinks, or energy products, you’re likely leaving real value on the table. Beverage companies are investing aggressively in these categories. KDP alone is launching more than 40 new products in 2026. That investment creates opportunity, but only if your agreement is structured to take advantage of it.
For more on how beverage company investment decisions work, see our article on The 4 Drivers of Beverage Company Investment.
The Coffee Stat That Should Concern Every Operator
One number jumped off the page: 74% of Gen A/Z coffee occasions involve flavored coffee. For Millennials and older, it’s 32%.
This is not a gap, but a generational cliff. And it has direct implications for any organization running a traditional drip-and-cream coffee program, whether you’re a hospital system, a corporate campus, or a convenience retailer. The next generation of your customers, employees, and patients expects flavored lattes, iced refreshers, and specialty options. A standard Bunn brewer with Folgers packets is increasingly invisible to them.
The good news: coffee innovation can be addressed in your beverage supplier agreements, if operators ask for it.
What Operators Should Do With This Data
We’re not suggesting you overhaul your beverage program because of one report. But KDP’s data reinforces a pattern we see across every industry we work in: the gap between consumer expectations and most organizations’ beverage programs is widening, not shrinking.
Three things to consider before your next contract renewal or renegotiation:
- Audit your current SKU mix against the categories your customers actually want. If you don’t have functional beverages, flavored coffee, and a water strategy beyond basic bottles, you have gaps.
- Build flexibility into your next agreement. The best deals we structure include annual menu reviews, new product introduction clauses, and the ability to adjust the portfolio without renegotiating the entire contract.
- Use the competitive environment to your advantage. KDP is launching 40+ new products this year. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are making similar moves. Large operators are reaching beyond the traditional “big three”. When all three major beverage companies and their challengers are investing heavily in innovation, it’s the right time to do a strategic assessment of your entire beverage program before letting your agreements auto-renew. More competition at the table creates more value for you.
Related reading: Beyond the Negotiation: Ensuring Your Beverage Program Thrives Long After the Deal
The brands are investing. The consumers are showing up. The only variable is whether your beverage program is built to meet them where they are.
Additional Resources:
The Four Factors that Drive Beverage Company Investment
Beyond the Negotiation: Ensuring Your Beverage Program Thrives Long After the Deal
Dr Pepper Surpasses Pepsi: What This Means for Beverage Partnerships
