A “lifestyle trend”: Rousselot flags collagen’s changing role from Olympic diets to personalized nutrition

25 Sep 2020 --- Rousselot is highlighting that despite the uncertainty caused by COVID-19 and its continuing impact on industry, there is “still a lot of room” to innovate and grow collagen’s use in the supplement, functional food and beverage markets.

Becoming more of a lifestyle additive than a simple supplement, collagen – hydrolyzed collagen specifically – is increasingly becoming popular for its nutritional benefits and versatility in the sports and mobility, active lifestyle and beauty-from-within sectors.

NutritionInsight speaks with presenters at Rousselot’s Health and Nutrition Online Innovation and Inspiration Day about how collagen is tapping into the lucrative markets for personalized nutrition and high-performance athleticism. 

Integrating collagen in shakes, juices and other in-between meals provides elite athletes with “moments of protein.”The role of social media campaigns to distribute nutritional advice online is also spotlighted, as the pandemic has heightened consumer awareness for reliable dietary information. 

“Exciting time” for portfolio diversification
Powder formats are most frequently observed in collagen peptides, says Lisette van Lith, global director of Rousselot Health & Nutrition. 

This is mainly due to its easiness to add and blend with a wide range of everyday beverages, such as smoothies, coffee and shakes. Applications are even expanding to yogurts, bars, chocolates and even popcorn or guacamole.

“However, as collagen peptides are becoming more of a lifestyle trend beyond ‘just’ a supplement, we are also finding a lot of innovation in the functional food and beverage space.”

This is where collagen can give Olympic athletes a boost for optimized sports performance and post-training recovery throughout the day, says Dr. Jeroen Wouters, innovation manager of sports and nutrition at the Dutch Olympic training center in Papendal, The Netherlands. 

At the Dutch Olympic training facility, the nutrition staff focuses on providing the athletes with different protein options throughout the day. “We know we would rather split the intake of protein into various parts throughout the day rather than have very big bonuses of protein,” says Dr. Wouters.

In that respect, 20 to 25 g of collagen supplementation can help scale protein intake moments, instead of meals. “For example, you can resupply with collagen in orange juice, which also has vitamin C.”

Collagen also blends in well in protein shakes; however, just like any regular consumers, Olympic athletes like variety, meaning that taste is key and shakes have to be diversified with other food options.

Collagen and personalized nutrition
While collagen is known for being used in the “serious sports performance” category, industry is now witnessing other health benefits for joints, skin and hair. “It’s one of those products that fit in as part of a lifestyle – not only in terms of wellness but also in taking a more preventative approach,” says Dr. Mariëtte Abrahams, CEO and founder of nutrition consultancy Qina.

Collagen is increasingly being used in the “healthy beauty” scene, as it targets skin and hair health.That’s where personalized nutrition comes in for Dr. Abrahams. “As we age, we drop in collagen levels, but you can proactively make sure that your collagen levels stay at a high level.”

Dr. Abrahams’ focus remains on the fact that collagen is an incomplete protein, which means that it can be added to the diet but should not be used as a sole source of nutrition. 

“Of course, it needs to be put in context with what else you are eating, you’re not going to just have collagen.”

The dangers of becoming nutritionally deficient 
The influence of marketing and social media in personalized nutrition is a huge trend. From a scientific background, Dr. Abrahams notes that it is “very worrying” to see consumers changing dietary habits based on questionable information online without professional guidance.

“It can go to the extreme where people become obsessed about what is in their food and cutting out way too many foods from their diets to the point where they become nutritionally deficient.”

The current issue is that there are “almost too many” social media influencers, bloggers and chefs using their online presence to talk about their “opinions” on nutrition and health, but their expertise may not be sufficiently substantiated.

“The many individuals who have a four-year degree and four-year training in nutrition are not as active or vocal on social media. They may not have that big follower basis. Consumers don’t know who is credentialed because it is not made explicit online. This is creating a shift in the marketplace.”

Lifting the voices of the professionals
The bigger the social presence, the bigger the following, but that does not mean the more accurate information consumers will receive, Dr. Abrahams continues. There is a “big problem” in terms of which products social media influencers endorse, as not all have scientific backing but are based on marketing claims.

Dr. Abrahams sees an “absolute responsibility” for credentialed professionals to provide consumers with reliable sources of nutritional information on social media.However, she notes that the pandemic “started improving things a little bit,” pointing to how consumer demand for accurate and credible information has “exploded.”

To meet this rising demand, Dr. Abrahams sees a need for more credentialed professionals to bolster their social media presence and to create a more robust media representation of credible health professionals – with “at least an Instagram or Facebook account.” 

“But this requires different skills that we have not been equipped with. At university, you are taught the science, but not how to lead a marketing campaign. It’s not that [researchers] can’t [write a blog], it’s the fact that it is not a skill they have been taught.”

During such difficult times, consumer awareness around cost-effectiveness, ingredient efficiency and other concerns, such as traceability and transparency, are even higher than usual, concludes van Lith.

“It is now more important than ever to rely on high quality, traceable ingredients that are backed by science.” 

By Anni Schleicher