Dubai-based Humantra, also offer hydration sachets containing six electrolytes and come in various flavors including lychee and Himalayan lime. During Ramadan this year (February 28-March 29), the brand created a “drinkable billboard” displayed in City Walk, Dubai. A drinks dispenser was embedded in the billboard, allowing passerbys to break their fast and hydrate with Humantra.
And while hydration sachets aren’t directly marketed at GLP-1 users, this demographic’s specific needs are also driving the category. When using GLP-1s, optimizing hydration helps to replace the fluids that can be lost to diarrhea and vomiting, both common side effects. According to SoWell, a brand that creates health solutions for GLP-1 users including their own electrolyte sachets, electrolytes can combat the suppression in thirst that can come with GLP-1 drugs. The brand claims that water alone isn’t enough, with one’s body needing “the right ratio of electrolytes—including magnesium, sodium, and potassium—to deliver…hydration into your cells.”
Hydration was a top selling category in the US mainstream multi-outlet channel in the year to October 2024, reaching sales of US $639.1 million and growing at 32.8% compared to the previous year, according to data from Spins LLC, published in Nutritional Outlook. Indeed, 52% of those surveyed for VML’s Future 100: 2025 report said that keeping well hydrated was one of the things they’re planning to do more of over the coming year.
The Intelligence take: Hydration is the latest addition to an ever-growing list of wellness goals, and brands are driving this, with products that zero in on electrolytes and nutrients that play into the prevailing mood of relentless self-optimization. And as our Future 100: 2025 report found that 23% of people globally say they’re cutting back on alcoholic drinks while 18% are spending less on soft drinks, this leaves a clear space for hydration products to emerge as a rising beverage category.
