The Main Reasons Beverage Brands Are Betting on Flavor and Feel Over Long-Term Formulation Science

In this Nutritional Outlook video interview, senior editor Nicholas Saraceno speaks with Spencer Lynn, VP of operations at PricePlow and Bevlab, about the gap between how ingredient science is communicated to formulators and how it needs to be simplified to resonate with everyday consumers.

Lynn explains that both PricePlow and Bevlab treat their media platforms as a "front porch" to their broader ecosystem. On Bevlab's Instagram, roughly 70% of content consists of trend-driven, entertainment-focused videos reviewing energy drinks and functional beverages, while the remaining 30% dives deeper into specific ingredients and formulation details.

This entertainment-first approach, Lynn says, is designed to draw in a wider audience before funneling more engaged consumers toward deeper educational content, a strategy he believes many brands are now adopting, particularly as formulators increasingly lean into flavor to capture consumers who may not otherwise stick with a product long enough to feel its effects.

The conversation then shifts to broader consumer trends shaping product development. Lynn notes that beverage consumers, especially those purchasing on impulse at convenience stores, want acute, immediately noticeable effects rather than a cumulative benefit that builds with daily use, the way a pill or powder supplement might. While caffeine remains the most familiar way to deliver that immediate effect, Lynn points to a growing set of ingredients, including goBHB, taurine, and dynamine, that either enhance caffeine's effects or provide their own standalone acute impact.

Throughout the conversation, Lynn frames content and formulation as increasingly intertwined: consumer-facing engagement isn't just a marketing layer, but an early signal that's beginning to influence how products are formulated and briefed before they ever reach development.

A transcript of their conversation can be found below.

Nicholas Saraceno: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another installment of the Nutritional Outlook video series. Of course, I am Nico Saraceno, senior editor of Nutritional Outlook magazine. And today I am joined by Spencer Lynn. He is the VP of operations at PricePlow and Bevlab. We're going to dive into quite a bit today. But before we do, Spencer, thank you so much for taking the time out of your schedule to join us today. I really do appreciate it.

Spencer Lynn: Thanks for having me, Nico. I like what you're doing with the podcast, the video series here. And I'm always happy to hop on and give my insights and chat with you.

Saraceno: Well, I appreciate that. Let's jump right in because we do have a lot to get to. Let’s start with Bevlab. It reviews, energy drinks, hydration products, functional beverages, which I think is interesting because it's through targeting mainstream consumers by providing entertainment and fast-hitting content. So I'm curious, what have you learned about this gap between how the ingredient science is communicated to the formulators, versus perhaps how it needs to be simplified to land with the everyday consumer? Because I feel like there is a gap there that you all are doing a very great job at addressing.

Lynn: That's an awesome question. I think for both Bevlab and PricePlow, really, we kind of use the platforms as the front porch to everything we do. So the media production side, the content production side of it is what you see on our Instagram page. For example, on Bevlab, you'll see Cody, who runs our Bevlab platform. He does a lot of on trend, funny skit type videos featuring energy drinks.

I would say maybe 7 out of 10 of his posts are like that, and then maybe 3 out of 10 of his posts are more educational on specific ingredients and deep dives on formulas, and maybe a little bit on how this particular beverage was produced. We use that content and that entertainment as the front porch for our platforms and to get a bigger reach out there to funnel the more in-depth people into our ecosystem. I think a lot of brands do that the same way too. Especially again with beverage right now, I think a lot of formulators are really leaning into flavors to capture more consumers because nobody really cares how good your energy drink makes you feel or actually delivers on the impact of it unless they're able to consume it every day.

I like what you said there too. Your content is sort of like a gateway. It's letting people in because I think it's hard (that kind of like awareness) with all the different ways to consume content nowadays, getting people involved. It’s hard to break through that initial barrier initially, and then once you do, it's like, okay, well, people, that's where the consumer trust comes in and, and everything like that.

Saraceno: Definitely important to keep in mind, but I was wondering, obviously PricePlow and, Bevlab are working across consulting when it comes to formulation consulting, the content production. Given your experience in the space, what trends are you noticing when it comes to consumer-facing content or reviews before they show up in like the actual product development briefs and things like that? What have you been seeing in your experience, along that avenue?

Lynn: Consumers definitely want acute effects. Especially in the beverage space where it is something that somebody's going to buy at a gas station, they want to fill something almost immediately. It's not necessarily something that they have sitting on their kitchen counter that they're going to use every single day, like a pill or a powder. Caffeine is the easiest and most well-known way to do that, but that has its limits, especially in an energy drink.

There's plenty of other ingredients that are coming to market that can kind of either add to caffeine or provide their own acute effects separate from caffeine. I mean, goBHB is one that comes to mind. There's things like taurine and dynamine that can enhance caffeine's effects. Those are definitely the things that consumers are looking for is an acute effect, something that they can feel right away.