Webinar preview: Rousselot dives into diversifying sports nutrition market to “keep ahead of the game”

16 Oct 2023 --- Sports nutrition is expanding from elite athletes to everyday consumers looking to live healthier and more active lifestyles. As competition increases in the field, Rousselot highlights the growing need for brands to differentiate their products and innovations.

Nutrition Insight sits down with Florencia Moreno, global business development manager at Rousselot Health & Nutrition, ahead of next week’s webinar: Keeping ahead of the game: Latest scientific updates in sports nutrition and Peptan collagen peptides. 

Moreno sees the health and wellness macro trend as a crucial driver for sports nutrition going mainstream, as consumers are increasingly becoming more aware of the connection between food, exercise and supplements.

“Although there is a lot of education and actual lifestyle changes to be done, it has become apparent that ‘being healthy and eating better’ is top of mind for many consumers,” she highlights. 

“Another driver behind this increased awareness and mainstreamization of the sports nutrition and active lifestyle market segment is the connected world; being able to see and interact with influencers sharing their daily routines and consuming products that we can easily acquire as well makes the fitness or sports journey more appealing and inspiring.”

Consumer profiles 
Moreno explains that the boundaries between sports and active nutrition have blurred. 

“We can think of three consumer profiles for the category: Performance, active and lifestyle users. Lifestyle consumers are the least spoken of. However, they represent the major push of sports nutrition from a previously isolated category focused on hardcore sporters into the mainstream.” 

“The times when sports nutrition was only meant for elite athletes or gym gurus is gone. It has transcended into the active lifestyle and more recently into the overall healthy lifestyle,” underscores Moreno.

Florencia Moreno, global business development manager at Rousselot Health & Nutrition (Image credit: Rousselot).Product and format innovations 
The sports nutrition and active lifestyle market segment offers products for a wide range of consumers, whether they exercise daily, a few times a week or only once or twice.

“One of the main reasons is the increase in product innovations that can be applied to everyday life almost seamlessly,” explains Moreno. “Think about high-quality powder supplements with great sensory properties that can be added to your morning coffee, your pre- or post-exercise shake or even a soup or yogurt.”

She also sees that novel formats that make it easier for consumers to stick to sports nutrition products have played a significant role in their mainstreamization.

“In next week’s webinar, we will explore some innovative formats beyond the classic protein powders, and what’s more, we will look into key untapped positionings to differentiate from the competition within sports nutrition, even within the existing collagen peptides for sports nutrition offerings.” 

More specifically, Moreno will discuss differentiating production innovations with Rousselot’s Peptan collagen peptides. 

Science updates 
Moreno invites the webinar audience to broaden their horizons and discover the latest science regarding Peptan and sports nutrition beyond performance and recovery, to discover the unusual suspects that have joined the Peptan collagen peptides arena.

“Besides the existing science on recovery, performance and mobility, we will explore two recent studies by Loughborough University and Newcastle University,” she continues. 

“Here, Peptan was used across active subjects to measure parameters such as sleep quality and gut comfort. Both are relevant for athletes due to their linkages with performance albeit often overseen.” 

Although collagen ingredients are often promoted for their joint health and beauty-from-within benefits, Moreno recently shared scientific insights with us on their use in active and sports nutrition categories beyond joint health. 

By Jolanda van Hal