2026-06-10
Corporación Hijos de Rivera and EIT Food have opened applications for the second edition of Impact Sips, an innovation program aimed at finding functional beverage ingredients and drink concepts with scientific backing and commercial potential.
The program was announced Wednesday in Brussels. It is run by Hijos de Rivera, the Spanish beverage company behind brands including Estrella Galicia and Cabreiroá, together with EIT Food, which is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, an agency of the European Union. Applications will remain open until July 10, and as many as six finalists will be invited to present their projects at a Demo Day in A Coruña, Spain.
The initiative comes as beverage companies across Europe look for products that go beyond basic hydration or nutrition and respond to consumer interest in health, mood and metabolic support. Organizers said this year’s call will focus on three areas: healthy aging, mental well-being and metabolic health. They are seeking ingredients and solutions that can support longevity, skin health, mood, focus, stress management, satiety, digestive health and metabolic function, including products designed to complement GLP-1 therapies.
Hijos de Rivera said the second edition builds on strong interest in the first round. The inaugural program drew nearly 90 applications from startups in 39 countries. According to the organizers, 73% of those applicants said their technologies or ingredients had scientific validation. After a selection process, six startups reached the final Demo Day. The company said it is now moving toward a pilot collaboration with the winning startup from that first edition.
The structure of Impact Sips is meant to move beyond a standard startup competition. Selected companies are offered access to Hijos de Rivera’s teams in open innovation, research and development, marketing and business development. The goal is to test whether early-stage ideas can become pilot projects or longer-term commercial partnerships.
Yago Campos, director of R&D&I at Corporación Hijos de Rivera, said the company sees functional beverages as part of a broader change in what consumers expect from food and drink. He said shoppers are no longer satisfied only with products seen as healthy or free from certain ingredients, but increasingly want drinks that provide specific and measurable benefits.
Belén Moscoso, senior corporate venturing manager for Europe at EIT Food, said Europe has a strong base of startups working on health-related food and beverage innovation. She said the program is designed to connect those companies with an established beverage producer that can offer real testing and market opportunities.
The organizers tied the new edition to broader shifts in consumer behavior. Citing data from EIT Food’s Consumer Observatory, they said six in ten European consumers define health partly through mental well-being, while more than half say they are willing to try food and beverage products that support emotional health. They also said nearly one in two Europeans already uses supplements daily, a sign that consumers may be open to drinks positioned around targeted functional benefits.
That backdrop has made metabolic health one of the fastest-growing areas in food and beverage innovation. Companies are paying closer attention to ingredients linked to fullness, digestion and blood sugar management as interest grows around weight-loss drugs and GLP-1 therapies. Organizers said they expect this trend to shape many of the applications submitted this year.
Finalists selected for Impact Sips 2026 will pitch directly to senior leadership at Hijos de Rivera during the closing event at the company’s headquarters and innovation centers in A Coruña. For Hijos de Rivera, the program offers a way to scout emerging science-based beverage ideas at a time when competition is increasing in functional drinks. For startups, it offers a route into one of Europe’s established independent beverage groups with the possibility of pilot work and future commercialization.