Arla Foods Ingredients is bringing three new personalized clear shake beverage solutions to SupplySide Global (Oct. 28–30, Las Vegas), positioning the ingredient supplier at the center of a fast-evolving functional beverage segment that increasingly demands both transparency and nutritional customization.
The clear shake format has gained traction across foodservice and retail channels as operators and formulators look to differentiate protein-forward offerings beyond the traditional opaque, milk-based shake. Clear, water-based protein beverages — often whey isolate-driven — appeal to consumers seeking lighter texture and visible ingredient simplicity, a trend that has accelerated alongside broader clean-label demand in the beverage daypart.
What's Being Shown
While full formulation specs were not disclosed ahead of the show floor debut, Arla Foods Ingredients has positioned the three concepts around individual taste personalization, suggesting a modular or customizable build approach — a format increasingly relevant to foodservice operators exploring made-to-order beverage programs and to CPG brands developing SKU architectures that can address multiple consumer need states from a single base platform.
The personalization angle tracks with broader foodservice and food-and-beverage industry momentum. Chain operators from QSR to fast casual have expanded beverage customization menus, while ingredient suppliers have responded with flexible protein and flavor systems designed to support high-throughput, consistent output across units. For contract manufacturers and beverage startups sourcing ingredient partners, supplier showcases at events like SupplySide Global function as a primary pipeline for new formulation concepts.
Industry Context
The functional beverage category — encompassing protein shakes, sports nutrition drinks, and wellness-positioned RTD formats — has been one of the more resilient pockets of food and beverage growth, even as broader consumer spending has moderated. Whey-based clear beverages, in particular, have attracted investment from both established nutrition brands and emerging challenger labels seeking shelf differentiation. Arla Foods Ingredients, the business-to-business arm of the Arla dairy cooperative, supplies whey proteins and other dairy-derived ingredients to manufacturers globally, making its SupplySide presence a direct play for formulation influence at the development stage.
For foodservice operators and their supply chain partners evaluating next-generation beverage programs, the show floor debut signals continued ingredient innovation in clear-format protein drinks — a subcategory that, if it follows the RTD protein shake trajectory, could find its way into operator-facing ready-to-blend or fountain-adjacent applications. Coverage of adjacent beverage innovation trends is available in our functional beverage and ingredient news and foodservice supply chain reporting.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
