Sports boosters: Wide-ranging consumer bases and holistic health impact industry

09 Sep 2020 --- Sports nutrition has welcomed a broader spectrum of consumers, who no longer seek just to boost performance and recovery, but to follow a holistic approach to health. Industry experts discuss the popularity of staple themes such as protein fortification, mental performance and the rising immunity trend.

“As a result of staying indoors for the majority of 2020, there seems to be a behavioral shift from consuming stimulants before a workout to ingredients that support a ‘healthier lifestyle,’ for example in terms of mobility, general wellness, stress and pain,” Mariko Hill, Product Development Executive at Gencor, tells NutritionInsight.

“Individuals are also thinking more about their health now as they become aware that those with pre-existing medical conditions are at higher risk for illness from COVID-19. Because of this change in consumer behavior, sports nutrition brands are adapting quickly to provide solutions for various consumers,” Hill says.

She adds that the e-gaming sector is gaining a lot of traction, with opportunities for related NPD. Supplements that may enhance cognitive function and support gamers’ long-term health have major potential for growth in the sports nutrition industry.

Diverse consumer bases
Joe Katterfield, Business Development Manager for Sports Nutrition and Health Foods at Arla Foods Ingredients (AFI), tells NutritionInsight that the sports nutrition customer base has become larger and more diverse. This has a number of important effects. 

Changing consumer behaviors are forcing sports nutrition brands to adapt quickly to provide solutions for a wide range of consumers.“To reach a wider range of mainstream consumers, for example, you need to make sure your product offers pleasant taste and mouthfeel.” 

“You don’t have to be a professional athlete to want to improve your performance. Large numbers of sporty consumers – whether they’re weekend warriors or people training for their first half marathon – will use sports nutrition products in some way,” Katterfield says.

“It’s also increasingly important to meet a range of new consumer needs, which are often based on values and have nothing to do with performance. For example, there’s growing demand for sports nutrition products with a natural positioning – we’ve just launched our first organic product range, Nutrilac MicelPure Organic, to meet this demand,” he adds.

Consumers of sports nutrition products report muscle growth, recovery and high protein as major drivers for purchase, Sarah O’Neill, Marketing Manager at Carbery, tells NutritionInsight. 

“Dairy still dominates as the principal protein source in sports nutrition launches overall. Global patent filing for sports nutrition has grown in the past ten years, with muscle growth being the major usage description, followed by muscle strength. However, we are seeing other interesting claims emerging based on more complex science around enhanced muscle mitochondrial activity, reduced muscular fatigue, altered gene expression, enhanced fat metabolism and enhanced performance,” O’Neill explains.

“Consumers still want high protein products: mainly snacks and beverages. They want healthy and indulgent products. They also want naturality and clean label products. They look for naturality with products with no additives or preservatives. Moreover more and more products are GMO free or organic. At Ingredia, our range of nutritional proteins, coined Prodiet, including organic protein, can answer this requirement,” Elsa Trotier, Product Manager Nutrition and Health at Ingredia, tells NutritionInsight.

Boosters for brain and body
In this arena, Gencor is highlighting Levagen (PEA). It combines high analgesic and anti-inflammatory efficacy for recovery and joint discomfort relief. PEA is an endogenous fatty acid amide produced by the body in response to stressors, pain and inflammation, as a biological response and repair mechanism, Hill at Gencor explains.

“Thus, in the circumstances where the body produces free radicals, such as high-intensity sport, Levagen is a unique ingredient to reduce the detriments caused by exercise. A recent study on osteoarthritis patients demonstrated Levagen to reduce joint pain and stiffness, which tends to be the result of mechanical stress induced by exercise,” she affirms.

She also brings attention to Testofen, a standardized extract of fenugreek seeds that boosts testosterone levels within normal human physiological limits. “Gencor has conducted five clinical studies on Testofen, which showed its ability to increase lean muscle mass, decrease body fat and increase strength. This allows individuals to maximize their strength sessions at the gym and enhance body composition,” Hill notes.

According to Katterfield at AFI, whey protein is still the go-to ingredient for athletic performance. Whey protein hydrolysates in particular have long been recognized as a good form of protein because they accelerate post-workout recovery and help build lean muscle quickly. They also offer better amino acid composition than other forms of dietary protein, such as soy, and are more rapidly absorbed, he says.

After prolonged or intense workouts, athletes seek recover their energy levels by taking supplements or food rich in carbohydrates – to restore muscle glycogen – as well as proteins.

A growing number of non-professional athletes take sports and sports nutrition very seriously.That helps repair tissue damage and keep muscle tone and retain electrolytes lost by sweating, Sonia Moreno, Marketing & Project Manager at Azur Global Nutrition, tells NutritionInsight.

“It is of great importance to maintain an optimal lipid balance in our bodies that will allow us to resolve inflammation and keep us at peak performance. Solutex commercializes through its immunonutrition subsidiary Azur Global Nutrition, a product enriched in specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators (SPMs), named Sports ProResolve,” Moreno underscores.

 SPMs are lipid mediators essential to supporting the natural resolution of the inflammatory process due to sports injuries and physical stress and enable a return to homeostasis.

In performance boosters, Optipep 4Power is a hydrolyzed whey protein that, when taken before a high-intensity workout, helps athletes produce and sustain more power compared to whey protein concentrate. This is according to Carbery’s O’Neill, who says that it is a potential game-changer for brands providing targeted nutritional solutions to consumers participating in sports such as CrossFit, field sports, sprinting and combat sports. 

Active consumers: Just a trend?
According to Ingredia’s Trotier, everyday exercisers are really interested in sport nutrition. They want to perform new challenges like marathons or ironman challenges and they do not hesitate to adapt their nutrition to their nutritional needs. 

“There is a growing number of non-professional athletes that take sport very seriously. They are motivated to continuously improve on their personal best or personal record, and as such, nutritional strategies that can help them achieve their performance goals are highly relevant,” O’Neill highlights.

She says that there are reports of consumers that have initially gained a few lockdown kilos and are now embracing home work-outs and nutrition plans. “Sports nutrition products will remain important as consumers get back on track with their health and nutrition goals,” she notes.

For Hill at Gencor, consumers are looking to reduce the impact of aging and are interested in emerging need states such as inflammation, joint and muscle health and cognitive function. “These areas are important to the active consumer as well as recovery and stamina,” she concludes.

By Kristiana Lalou