What Are Natural Flavourings? A Look Inside Hip Pop’s Berries & Cherries

What Are Natural Flavourings? It’s not just fruit floating in a bottle (though that does sound lovely).

It’s one of those phrases you see on labels that sounds… promising? Healthy-ish? Slightly mysterious? Like it’s doing a lot of work without saying very much.

And honestly, we get it. It sounds like something invented in a boardroom to make “flavouring” sound more outdoorsy and ready for adventure.

But here at Hip Pop, we believe in transparency, especially when it comes to what goes in your can. So, let’s clear things up. This blog will break down what “natural flavourings” actually are (and what they’re not), explain how they differ from artificial ones, and show you exactly how we use them in our new Berries & Cherries Soda, a proper good cherry drink made with real fruit extracts, high fibre ingredients, and absolutely no artificial nonsense.

Let’s crack it open.

What Actually Are Natural Flavourings?

Let’s get the formal bit out of the way: In the UK, natural flavourings are defined as flavouring substances derived from plant, animal, or microbial sources using physical, enzymatic, or microbiological processes. In plain English: if it comes from nature, and you didn’t need a lab coat and a pipette to invent it from scratch, it probably qualifies.

Sounds good, right? Mostly. But here's where it gets a bit fuzzy.

See, “natural” doesn’t always mean “recognisable”. Just because a flavour is natural doesn’t mean it’s come from the exact fruit it claims to taste like. Natural strawberry flavour, for instance, might come from a strawberry, or it might come from another plant that smells similar to one. It’s all about molecules, aroma compounds, and how our brains interpret them.

At Hip Pop, we’re big on real ingredients, and when we say, “natural flavourings,” we mean it. In our Berries & Cherries Soda, the flavour comes from a clever combo of real fruit juice, plant-based extracts, and natural flavours that actually taste like the thing they’re meant to taste like. Cherry. Blackberry. A hint of vanilla. All working together to create a drink that’s fruity, juicy, and completely artificial sweetener-free.

Why We Skip the Artificial Stuff

If natural flavourings are a carefully extracted essence of real plants and fruits, artificial flavourings are… well, a bit more sci-fi.

Artificial flavours are entirely man-made compounds, often created to mimic natural ones, sometimes very effectively, sometimes not. They’re built in labs using chemicals that don’t exist in nature, often because it’s cheaper, faster, or easier to manufacture at scale. And while they’re safe (they wouldn’t be approved otherwise), they can sometimes taste… odd. Not dangerous. Just not right.

You know the type: the banana flavour that tastes like foam sweets instead of fruit. The strawberry that somehow reminds you of bubble gum. The lemon that smells like a cleaning product. Close, but no cherry vanilla.

At Hip Pop, we don’t do artificial flavours. Not because we’re snobs. Because we’re realists. Real flavours just… taste better. And if your drink is going to be naturally low in sugar and calories, it had better taste incredible, not like someone’s flavour algorithm glitched halfway through.

So, while artificial flavours might be a shortcut, we’ve taken the longer, tastier road. Every Hip Pop can is made with real fruit juice, natural flavourings, and ingredients you don’t need a chemistry degree to pronounce.

How Do Natural Flavourings Actually Get Made?

Hint: it’s less magic, more science, with a bit of fruit.

Right, so let’s say you want to make a drink that tastes like cherry. You could just throw in a load of cherry juice, sure, but that comes with challenges. Real fruit juice can be expensive, unstable over time, and sometimes doesn’t pack the same punch once it’s been pasteurised, canned, and left to chill in a fridge for a few weeks.

These aren’t synthetic or artificial; they’re extracted from things like fruits, spices, herbs, bark, or other plants using approved physical and enzymatic methods. In other words, clever but natural chemistry. No test tubes bubbling over, no secret lab in the basement.

The flavour team (yes, that’s a very real, a very cool job) identifies the molecules that give, say, blackberries their rich, tangy aroma or cherries their warm sweetness. They then isolate or blend those same molecules from natural sources, and boom, you get a flavouring that’s stable, safe, and incredibly effective in small amounts.

At Hip Pop, we use these natural flavourings to enhance what’s already there, not fake it. Our Berries & Cherries Soda contains real fruit juice as a base, then uses natural flavourings to build out the full cherry experience. Think of it like turning up the volume on the fruit, without drowning it in sugar or science-fiction ingredients.

And because we don’t use any artificial sweeteners, the result is a drink that feels indulgent but still fits your day-to-day vibe: bold, balanced, and built for actual humans.

Natural vs Artificial Flavourings: What’s the Difference?

So, when you crack open a Berries & Cherries Soda, you’re getting a genuine fruit hit, deep, slightly tart, with a creamy vanilla finish. It’s clear, clean, and refreshingly honest.

Why It Matters: The Real Flavour Test

Here’s the thing: when you’re holding a can in your hand, maybe scanning for sugar content, calorie count, or just wondering whether “natural” actually means anything, you don’t want marketing waffle. You want a drink that tastes great, uses ingredients you trust, and doesn’t hide behind vague promises or trendy buzzwords.

Natural flavourings matter not just because they sound nice on a label, but because they taste the way drinks should taste, bold, balanced, and familiar, without being fake. And when they’re backed by real fruit juice and clean ingredients like in our Berries & Cherries Soda, you can tell the difference from the first sip.

You don’t need a microscope or a moral dilemma to choose your soft drink. You just need to know what’s in it, and more importantly, what’s not.

No artificial sweeteners.
No artificial flavours.
Just proper pop, done properly.

Flavour Spotlight: Berries & Cherries (with a Hint of Vanilla)

Fruity, juicy and suspiciously satisfying.

We’ve made a lot of fizzy drinks in our time, but Berries & Cherries is one that really stands out. Maybe it’s the richness of the dark cherry. Maybe it’s the splash of blackberry. Maybe it’s the way the natural vanilla flavour smooths it all out like a jazzy little bassline in the background.

Whatever it is, this can has got character. It’s a little bold, a little tart, a little sweet, but never too much of any of them. It’s the kind of drink you sip and think, “Oh hello, what’s this?”, and then immediately take another swig.

And because it’s a Hip Pop Soda, it’s not just about flavour. You’re also getting:

• 5g of plant fibre per can (that’s a solid head-start toward your 30g-a-day goal)

• Low calories

• No artificial flavourings or sweeteners

• And absolutely no weirdness pretending to be nutrition

So, if you’re after a fizzy drink that actually tastes like what it says on the can, and doesn’t come with a side of guilt, disappointment, or homework, this is the one to reach for.

Natural Flavourings, Without the Fluff

So, what have we learned? Natural flavourings aren’t just marketing spin, they’re real, regulated, and (when done properly) seriously delicious. At Hip Pop, we don’t throw the word “natural” around just to sound wholesome. We use it because we mean it.

Our sodas are made with:

• Natural flavourings extracted from real plants and fruits

• No artificial flavours or sweeteners

• Real fruit juice and plant fibre

• And a whole lot of flavour that actually lives up to the label

Drinks shouldn’t be confusing. Or cryptic. Or so health-obsessed they forget to taste good. We’re here to make pop that’s honest, refreshing, and properly tasty, with ingredients you recognise, and none of the weird stuff.

So next time you see “natural flavourings” on a label, you’ll know what’s really behind it.
And when you see it on a can of Hip Pop, you’ll know it’s the real deal.