Beverage Efficacy Claims Grew 26.6% in China in H1 2026

Sales of drinks that carry efficacy claims grew 26.6% on mainstream e-commerce platforms in China in the first half of 2026, the fastest of six beverage selling-point dimensions, according to Moojing Market Intelligence. Flavour ingredients remained the largest selling point, at CN¥ 8.06 billion and flat on the year, as China's beverages moved from "tasty" to "tasty + functional".

This article covers the fourth chapter of the full report, on the selling points of China's drinks.

Key figures

• +26.6%: drinks sold on efficacy claims, the fastest-growing of six selling-point dimensions
• CN¥ 8.06 billion: flavour ingredients, the largest selling point, flat on H1 2025
• CN¥ 610 million: drinks sold on a gut-health claim, the largest efficacy claim by sales
• +37.3%: drinks sold on a beauty and skin-care claim, and +33.7% on a nourishing and moisturising claim

Method and scope: observed online sales on mainstream e-commerce platforms in China, January to June 2026 against the same months of 2025, from Moojing Market Intelligence; not the total market. Selling points and claims are Moojing's classification of products by what they claim, so one drink can carry several and their sales overlap; they describe what products are sold on and say nothing about what the products do.

Which beverage selling points grew fastest in China?#

Among the six dimensions, efficacy grew fastest and flavour ingredients held flat, while nutritional elements gained volume but lost value.

The six dimensions are flavour ingredients, formula health, nutritional elements, efficacy, tea base and formula safety. The report reads the pattern among them as a market moving from broad health concepts towards specific functional claims, with flavour holding the base of the category and efficacy supplying its growth. The number of drinks sold on efficacy claims grew faster than their sales, so the growth came from more drinks being bought at a lower average price.

Exhibit 18. Source: Moojing Market Intelligence, observed online sales on mainstream e-commerce platforms in China, H1 2026 on H1 2025, sales and units growth by selling-point dimension; five of the six dimensions shown, and all six are in the full report. A product can carry several selling points. Not the total market.

Which flavour ingredients lead China's beverages?#

The flavour ingredients of China's online beverages fall into three groups: fruit, flower and herb, and grain. Peach, lemon, coconut and jasmine were among the largest-selling ingredients in the first half of 2026, while herbs and flowers such as white peony, holly and reed root, together with blood orange, were among the fastest-growing.

The largest sellers, which also include walnut, black bean, five grains, grains and pear, are the familiar base of the category. The report points to an enhanced herbal flavour as one route to differentiation, and we believe the growth of these ingredients shows that flavours long used in traditional Chinese drinks can now be sold in modern drink formats.

Which efficacy claims carry the most sales?#

Among drinks sold on efficacy claims in China, those sold on a gut-health claim carried the most sales in the first half of 2026, at CN¥ 610 million. Drinks sold on beauty and skin-care claims, which grew 37.3%, and on nourishing and moisturising claims, which grew 33.7%, supplied most of the growth.

How have the health claims of China's beverages changed since 2023?#

The health claims of China's online beverages have moved since 2023 from basic sugar reduction to natural ingredients and claims drawn from traditional Chinese food culture, as the hero products of each period show.

Sugar-free oolong tea and sugar-free sparkling water were the hero products of 2023, and an astragalus and codonopsis four-treasure tea, red-bean coix water and birch water those of 2024. Honeysuckle pomelo juice, electrolyte water, a vitamin functional drink and a walnut, sesame and black-bean powder followed in 2025, and in April 2026 a yam and apple Si Shen soup, a ready-to-drink version of a traditional Chinese soup. Natural drinks such as birch water and honeysuckle pomelo juice meet demand for clean labels, while functional drinks such as electrolyte water, vitamin drinks and the Si Shen soup are sold on supplementation and daily-nourishment claims. The report therefore describes beverage innovation as moving beyond sugar-free claims towards natural, functional and scenario-based products.

What does this mean for beverage brands?#

China's online beverages moved from "tasty" to "tasty + functional" in the first half of 2026, as efficacy claims supplied the growth while flavour ingredients, the largest selling point, held flat, and the claims that grew fastest were those tied to appearance and everyday nourishment.

For a beverage brand, we believe the practical point is that flavour still has to carry the product, since it is the largest selling point by sales. The growth in the first half of 2026 came from giving shoppers a specific, identifiable reason to choose one drink over another, whether that is a natural ingredient, a traditional herb or the moment the drink is meant for. Our earlier article on the growth of electrolyte drinks in China looks at one of those functional categories in more detail. The full report carries the beverage exhibits, including the flavour-ingredient groups and the wellness-drink section, and our China FMCG and food and beverage market intelligence page sets out what else we cover in the category.