ADM leverages active nutrition biotics formulas for Olympics and sports season

12 Jul 2024 --- Ahead of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, ADM highlights its plant-based, pre-, pro- and postbiotic innovations for active nutrition. The company has put a laser focus on gut health. The company’s inventory for elite athletes and e-gamers include gut health, focus and branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) gummies. The Metaboost chocolate for metabolic health, CoolFit lime isotonic drink and plant-based protein shake 75+ are stand out concepts for optimal performance.

“CoolFit lime drink is an isotonic drink expected to see a 3.8% growth with 1.25 billion liters mainly drunk in Spain, Germany, the UK, South Africa, Poland — all over where active sport is big. We also see high launch activity. In 2023, 257 launches and relaunches (of this kind of product) were seen in the European region,” Andreas Petrik, marketing director of specialized nutrition, ADM, tells Nutrition Insight, at an exclusive tasting.

 “ADM is focusing on positionings such as recharging, lost fluids, isotonic formula, vitamins B6 and B12, magnesium, choline, caffeine and niacin.” 

Another major focus of all its sports nutrition concepts is microbiome supporting solutions for gut health and supporting the gut-organ axis and the gut-muscle axis. “We can certainly see with the amount of clinical studies, the body of evidence on the benefits of microbiome solutions associated with sports nutrition - pre-, pro-, postbiotics and supplementation in several areas of health,” Paula Limena, VP, global marketing for health and wellness, ADM, tells us.

“Specific for sports nutrition it is a bi-directional relationship between the microbiome and exercise in terms of GI distress, in terms of performance athletes. We know that intensive sport individuals have a lot more inflammation issues related to the gut.”

“That’s where we started to investigate some strains that are associated not only with the performance of female athletes but we have a very specific study on for instance female athletes and the benefits of DE111 on body composition,” she explains.

The expected growth of the microbiome focused products is 8% CAGR by 2027, according to ADM. The company has about 10 clinical trials on the go to grow its microbiome offering for digestive health, immunity, healthy aging, heart health, skin health, metabolic health, weight management and mental and cognitive health which are all related to sports nutrition. The company predicts an increased demand for muscle building support in dietary supplements.

Rapid Rehydration category
The ready-to-drink CoolFit beverage concept is an isotonic drink with key vitamins and minerals (B6 and B12 vitamins, niacin, magnesium, choline, l-carnitine and caffeine from a natural source), along with a refreshing citrus flavor in anticipation of the growing rapid rehydration category.

The plant-based protein shake 75+ concept contains pea and soy proteins, delivering on protein diversity and content with over 75 g protein/100 g supporting muscle growth and recovery, in addition to being low in sugar and fat content with great taste and mouthfeel.ADM has heavily incorporated microbiome supporting solutions into their active nutrition offerings. 

Combining convenience, functionality and exceptional taste, the smart flavor powder concept packs a flavorful punch without the sugar intake, supported by Fibersol and DE111 for gut and digestive health support and acerola powder which contain vitamin C, stevia solutions and natural flavors.

Flavored powders are popular with people who want to optimize their healthy diet and be creative with the flavor profile. ADM’s plant-based protein shake 75+ and its smart flavor powder cater to this segment.

“What we did with this powder with our creative product development team was tap into the growing trend we see for food toppings. You have your yogurt but you want to add a more personalized touch. Fibersol has a sweetening appeal with the functionality of fiber,” says Limena.

Fueling energy and supporting muscle growth and recovery, the company’s vegan protein bar concept provides high protein content through pea and soy proteins while also delivering a decadent chocolate caramel flavor. 

Petrik notes: “Those who want to follow a healthy diet are asking how they can optimize their diet. Flavor powders are not only used in yogurts. They are also used in curds, plant-based shakes, plant-based drinks, coffee, in baking and in Skyr.” 

“People are very creative on their social media with their recipes. The Calamansi flavor is huge in the APAC (Asia-Pacific) region and is known for its immune benefits.”

Microbiome solutions for top sports
From the elite athlete to the everyday consumer, people everywhere are being inspired to lead an active lifestyle as the world turns its attention to the summer Olympic games in France. With health and fitness in the limelight, there is also an increasing focus on diet and nutrition to support performance, recovery and longevity.

ADM has examined and identified key areas of opportunity for sports and active nutrition product innovation and highlights evolving trends. The company’s Metaboost chocolate ensures optimal performance before, during and after exercise through rapid rehydration, sustained energy, recovery support, support for focus, concentration and mental clarity. 

“Electrolytes, certain vitamins, minerals, botanical extracts, gut microbiome supporting solutions support these demands. It evolved that consumers are requiring functionality also to their hydration. There are certain electrolytes like the botanicals that will answer these kinds of trends,” Petrik explains.

The chocolate supports metabolic health for holistic and active wellness goals and includes BPL1 (Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis CECT8145) postbiotic with grapeseed extract to support diastolic pressure.

ADM/Matsutani LLC Fibersol prebiotic fiber and heat-treated postbiotic Bifidobacterium longum subsp. longum CECT7347 with mint extract gummy is designed to support gut and digestive health. The gut-muscle gummy featuring DE111 (Bacillus subtilis, spore-forming probiotic) strengthens the connection between gut and muscle health. This is particularly helpful for women whose muscle mass declines with age making it more important to support lean muscle mass. 

The Focus gummy is a natural source of caffeine with guarana extract, vitamin C through acerola powder and vitamin B12. Focus Gummies support the energy levels needed for an active lifestyle. “We see a huge trend with e-gamers. The Focus gummies are non-sticky so the gamers are still able to use the keyboard,” says Petrik.Rapid rehydration is a major focus for the new generation of sports nutrition products by ADM.

The company also has a BCAA concept for muscle repair, recovery and growth through the mTOR pathway. These gummies include 4000 mg of BCAAs per serving including leucine, iso-leucine and valine.

“Everything that’s related to our data on metabolic health can be easily applied to sports nutrition immediately and we are starting to investigate more on energy, nutrients absorption, all those areas related to exercise as well,” Limena says.

“It’s been the center of our solutions driven products, microbiome solutions, and we are expanding beyond pre-, pro-, postbiotics. We are also investigating the benefits of phages in certain biomarkers as well, mainly PreforPro.”

The evolution of the sports category
In order to draw conclusions on which products to develop, ADM evaluates the entire growth of the sports nutrition category. The market was focused on protein for the body building culture in the 1970s (now the active agers). Protein was seen as an important building block of athletic performance but narrowly targeted on body building and functionality. The fitness and shaping culture took off in the 1980s making exercise more accessible and saw the rise of aerobics and home workouts. 

In the 2000s food technology became mainstream, lowering the taste barrier, improving the know-how, ingredient solutions and recipe development, moving functionality more strongly into the indulgence food sector. Healthy snacking took shape around 2010 onward with new snacking formats and indulgent treats.

Around 2020, personalized nutrition began to rise with brands creating solutions that were tailored to each demographic with functional ingredients that resonate with individual lifestyles across different life stages. 

Petrik says: “It set the frame for the kind of trends we see now. This category is oftentimes so difficult to catch but where is it going because this category is growing. We know there’s not one truth to it. There is also a lot happening in e-commerce. One of the tipping points that we experience — and this is where ADM comes in — was food technology.” 

“Food technology started to improve. One of the key points was, if you have functionality, how do you get the taste profile right? And this is very difficult. It’s not something that happens overnight. It’s something that happens where a lot of people with a lot of know-how work hard to get this done, because it’s about texture, it’s about taste, it’s about the shelf-life or what brands want to sell,” Petrik explains.   

By Inga de Jong