The pandemic put a temporary chill on choice as CPG companies waded through supply shortages and retail disruption to keep core products on the shelf. As we move further away from crisis mode, expect to see a return to the kinds of customization and personalization that was growing prior to the global upheaval.

Here are a couple of examples that have come across my desk in recent months:

Dream Tea NYC — A consumer answers a few basic questions so the company can create a personalized small batch tea blend for them. BD’s Laura Stanford, a hot tea drinker, gave the program a try. She chose loose leaf chamomile tea with added lavender, bergamot, and vanilla. The can, which she selected in green, was printed with her first name and a list of tasting notes: honey, smoke, citrus, vanilla, and “inspiration.”

Pax — The product is sold in a resealable pouch containing drink mix packets — three each of Cranberry Cosmo, Margarita, Pineapple Paloma, and Moscow Mule. The flavor mixes can...

Danone grew ready-to-drink coffee volume sales during the first quarter of this year by +7.2%, taking an additional +3.2 share points in the category. The result was driven by STōK, which aired...

PepsiCo and Lipton have launched a Pure Leaf Zero Sugar Sweet Tea nationally in the US. Sweetened with sucralose and acesulfame potassium, the ready-to-drink bottled tea contains no calories. The drink, packaged in an 18.5-oz single-serve carafe, will retail for $2.49 per bottle. It’s the first zero sugar tea produced in the US by the PepsiCo’s Lipton tea joint venture with Unilever. In an interview with BD, North America Pepsi Lipton Partnership GM Julie Raheja-Perera pointed out that...

As previously reported by BD, Gatorade Water is now available nationally in the US. The alkaline bottled water is the brand’s first unflavored water. To mark the occasion, PepsiCo rented ...

Hydration brand Hoist has debuted a Blaze Orange flavor in collaboration with outdoor lifestyle brand Realtree.

Tablet water enhancer Waterdrop has launched a new Berry flavor.