Where all those weird new drinks are coming from

这些奇怪的新饮料都是从哪里来的?

Planet Money

2026-10-03

29 分钟
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It's getting pretty wild in the beverage aisle these days — from the rainbow wall of seltzers, to the increasingly strange flavors of Pepsi, to the new "functional" sodas with added fiber or supplements that supposedly offer health benefits. Where are all these new drinks coming from? And why does it seem like the options are multiplying faster than ever? Today on the show, we go behind the scenes at one of the nation’s top-secret beverage laboratories. The food scientists in this lab have quietly helped companies design many of the new drinks on the shelves these days. We taste things we have never tasted before, including a sports hydration … broth? We learn what a strawberry has in common with a block of cheese. And we discover why the business of beverages will never be the same again.  Read: - Our book: Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life - Our weekly longform Planet Money newsletter- Our weekly Indicator round-up newsletter Follow:- Instagram- TikTok- YouTube- Facebook Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org. This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Jeff Guo. It was produced by James Sneed and Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, and edited by Jess Jiang. Vito Emanuel is our fact-checker, and Kwesi Lee engineered the show. Alex Goldmark is the executive producer of Planet Money. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy
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  • This is Planet Money from NPR.

  • When I was growing up in the 90s, there weren't that many choices about what to buy.

  • Most of the time, your options were like two or three giant brands.

  • This was the era of Nike versus Reebok, Nintendo versus Sega, Burger King versus McDonald's.

  • Most of all, there was Coke versus Pepsi.

  • This was the massive economic fault line dividing the beverage aisle, dividing the nation, frankly.

  • You either drank Coke...

  • Or you drank Pepsi.

  • Whitney Houston, she drank Coke.

  • Michael Jackson, on the other hand, he was Team Pepsi.

  • And I was thinking about the Cola Wars recently because the business of beverages just could not be more different now.

  • We are way past the days of just Coke or Pepsi.

  • The other day, I had my fellow Planet Money host, Kenny Malone, meet me at the supermarket.

  • We are actually headed to my favorite part of the store.

  • We were going on a thrilling safari through the beverage aisle.

  • Listen, you can't see Jeff, but he is glowing.

  • As we turn left into this aisle.