**When Chocolate Has No Cocoa and Coffee Has No Beans**

CPG is rewriting the ingredient list.

Cargill and Voyage Foods just launched NextCoa, a cocoa-free confectionery alternative built to mimic chocolate flavor as climate pressure and supply chain disruption hit the global cocoa market. Translation, big food is preparing for a world where chocolate gets harder to source but consumers still want their fix.

At the same time, the UK functional drinks market has hit £100M in value sales. Juice shots alone are on a 47% CAGR tear, with 130 million shots purchased in the last year. Moju’s revenue jumped 30%, and its 420ml Ginger Dosing Bottle now leads chilled juice in retail sales value with a 44% repeat rate. That is not a fad. That is behavior.

Search data tells the same story. Coffee alternatives are up +39.5% year on year in Google searches. Matcha beverages are up +154.5%.

Even traditional herbal medicine is getting the FMCG treatment. Herbal Player, a spin-off from Yier Healthcare, is rolling out updated ginseng sodas and candies using patented nanotechnology to extract ginsenosides and make products more affordable and retail-ready.

Why it matters. Consumers still crave comfort, energy, and indulgence. They just want it decoupled from fragile supply chains and old-school ingredients. Cocoa without cocoa. Coffee without coffee. Medicine in a soda can.

The smart money is not chasing flavor trends. It is building replacements for the raw materials behind them.