Kefir appears to be bucking the trend that has seen launch activity in drinking yogurts and fermented beverages remain relatively static in recent years. ###While kefir launch numbers are still limited globally, Innova Market Insights data indicate that they grew more than three-fold between 2011 and 2016. ###This is despite launches in the overall drinking yogurt/fermented beverages sub-category rising by more than 60%.###“As interest in fermented dairy products spread in the west alongside the arrival of the so-called functional foods market in the 1990s,” says Lu Ann Williams, director of innovation.###“Kefir started to move out of its home in the Caucasus via limited availability in specialist health food stores in western markets to a more value-added, mainstream positioning, particularly in the US.”###The US pioneered the kefir marsundown magnesiumket in the west and brought value-added options in resealable plastic bomagnesium citrate sapttles to the mainstream market. ###This allowed for more direct competition with other dairy and non-dairy beverages. ###It accounted for over one-third of global kefir launches in 2016 and beverages featuring kefir accounted for 40% of US drinking yogurt/fermented beverages introductions overall, compared with just over 8% globally. #zinc gluconate 75 mg##Europe accounted for the bulk of the remainder, led by more traditional markets in Eastern Europe, although launches in Western Europe have grown strongly, but from a very small base. ###Kefir is strongly promoted on its healthy properties, particularly with rising interest in fermented foods and beverages overall. ###All US and nearly 94% of global launches used some kind of health positioning in 2016. ###There was initial emphasis on probiotics, particularly focusing on digestive health benefits. ###Even though regulatory issues have made this type of claim more difficult in some parts of the world, digestive health claims were still used for nearly two-thirdpure encapsulations calcium citrates of global launches in 2016. ###Nearly half of kefir launches use low fat claims and the sector has also not been slow to exploit rising concerns over sugar intake in the diet. ###The number of global launches positioned on low sugar/no-added-sugar and sugar free positionings double in 2016 to feature in 20% of the total. ###Organic and lactose ferrous fumarate 324free variants are also increasingly common, among kefir launches.