WHAT MAKES A DRINK ACTUALLY 'CLEAN'?

The word “clean” is everywhere right now. Clean food. Clean drinks. Clean eating. It sounds good, but somewhere along the way, it lost its meaning.

Most of the time, "clean" just means marketable. It’s written on packaging, used in ads, and said so often that no one really stops to ask what it means anymore.

When we started working on Betta, this was something we talked about a lot. What does a "clean drink" actually look like in practice? And why do so few brands really deliver it?

WHAT "CLEAN" SHOULD MEAN 

For us, clean isn’t about being perfect or pure. It’s about being intentional.

A clean drink is simple. It has ingredients you can recognise and nothing unnecessary. It doesn’t rely on heavy additives or artificial ingredients to make it taste good. It’s built with purpose, not shortcuts.

Clean should mean:

• Ingredients you recognise.

• Nothing artificial.

• No fillers or hidden extras.

• A drink that supports your body rather than overloading it.

Clean doesn’t need to mean complicated. It just means honest.

WHY SO MANY DRINKS MISS THE MARK

There’s a lot happening behind the scenes in the drinks industry that most people never see. Words like "natural" and "clean" sound reassuring, but they often hide long lists of additives designed to make products cheaper, thicker, or sweeter.

I used to pick up drinks that looked healthy on the front, only to find ingredient lists that went on and on. Oils, gums, stabilisers, preservatives and artificial sweeteners, all added to make something taste or look the part.

The result is drinks that might look fresh but leave you feeling heavy or bloated. That’s not what clean should feel like.

WHAT CLEAN FEELS LIKE 

You can tell when something’s genuinely clean. It tastes light, not artificial. It feels balanced, not syrupy or dense. It doesn’t leave that chalky coating or chemical aftertaste that some drinks do.

A clean drink doesn’t fight your body. It fits in easily. You finish it and feel refreshed, not sluggish.

For us, that feeling is what really matters. It’s not just about what’s left out. It’s about how the drink actually feels. 

HOW WE THINK ABOUT IT AT BETTA 

When we built Betta, we wanted to make something that felt simple but was made with care. That meant stripping away anything unnecessary and focusing on what truly serves a purpose.

Each can has 15 grams of clean, plant-based protein, real fruit juice from concentrate, natural flavour, no added sugar, and nothing artificial. Over 70 percent of the calories come from protein, so it does its job without overloading your body.

The formulation itself is straightforward: sparkling water, hydrolysed pea protein, fruit juice from concentrate, natural flavour, citric acid for balance, and rowanberry extract as a natural preservative. 

Everything in the drink is there for a reason, and nothing unnecessary. 

We didn’t want another "functional drink". We wanted something you could reach for every day, knowing exactly what’s in it and why it’s there.

That’s what "clean" means to us: real ingredients that do what they should, and nothing they shouldn’t.

WHAT IT REALLY COMES DOWN TO 

Being healthy shouldn’t mean decoding a label. It should be simple.

When you pick something up, you should know what it is, trust what’s in it, and feel good after drinking it. That’s the kind of clean we believe in.

For us, clean isn’t a claim. It’s a commitment to making things the right way.