By AFPRelaxnews | Dec 24, 2022
After the South American drink yerba maté, next year, it's yaupon—a plant long-known to North America's indigenous populations—that's set to deliver a fresh caffeine hit
[CAPTION]Meet yaupon, the northern cousin of South American maté. Image: Shutterstock [/CAPTION]
What will your New Year's resolutions be for 2023? Giving up coffee for ecological reasons is a good place to start, since the market for alternatives is booming. After the South American drink yerba maté, next year, it's yaupon —a plant long-known to North America's indigenous populations—that's set to deliver a fresh caffeine hit.
_RSS_ According to 2017 research from the University of Michigan, the carbon footprint of a serving of coffee could vary between 50 and 250g of CO2 equivalent, depending on the type of coffee and the preparation method. The use of fertilizers or chemical inputs to treat the coffee plants, but also the transportation required to bring it from tropical production sites to end consumers, seriously add to the overall environmental cost of the product. All of which is a good reason to look for other sources of caffeine.
Living without coffee shouldn't be too much of a challenge because the stimulating effects of caffeine can be found in other plants. This is the case of black tea and matcha tea, as well as guarana (a plant native to the Amazon) and maté. Packed with antioxidants, zinc and selenium, maté is a traditional South American drink rooted in indigenous culture that has conquered the world as a substitute for tea or coffee. As consumers look for alternatives to further maintain their health, without depriving themselves of their daily caffeine hit, the market for alternatives to these two beverages is being heralded as a major new food trend, potentially worth nearly $20 billion by 2032. According to an economic report by Fact MR, this market is expected to grow at an estimated annual rate of 4.2%. Europeans appear to be the keenest consumers, since the old continent holds the largest share of the global coffee substitutes market (27.1%). To feed demand, foods billed as new—but which are often age-old—are being brought to the forefront by brands, helping to shape new consumption patterns. It's therefore anything but a coincidence that the American retailer Whole Foods has named one North American plant as a top food trend of 2023.
Also read: How Parle Agro is milking the market with Smoodh