Identifying today’s sports nutrition consumer
The upsurge of interest in physical health and performance over the pandemic has impacted the consumer demographic for sports nutrition products. Where there was once an obvious divide between elite sports professionals and recreational gym-goers, the pandemic has accelerated the rise of the ‘weekend warrior’ and seen an overlap between high-performance and amateur athletes. “On paper,” explains Nicholas Morgan, managing director, Nutrition Integrated, “the major ingredients, need-states and products in the sports nutrition space are relevant to multiple consumers.”
Miller agrees there is considerable overlap between consumer groups. He comments: “Many of the historically unique ingredients found only in sports nutrition products, such as creatine monohydrate, anhydrous caffeine, branched chain amino acids and, to an extent, high quality protein powders, are now becoming mainstream in nutritional and functional beverages. There is evidence that some brands can walk between all of these different consumers successfully with the same product, such as smart nutrition brand Huel, which bridges the gap between meal replacement and fitness-orientated food. The key nutrient that brings them together is protein, with brands opting to vary the other nutrients to suit the range or consumer.”
Sports recovery, for instance, can appeal to every fitness journey. De Pelsmaeker explains that all athletes—professional or not—need supplementation to cater for recovery. She observes that demanding training regimes and the industry’s current focus on muscle building can challenge the musculoskeletal system and trigger injuries. “It is therefore extremely important to reduce muscle soreness and support muscle repair effectively after training to avoid injury. Appropriate rest within training intervals and nutritional supplements like collagen peptides have an important role to play as they contribute to a faster post-exercise recovery and performance improvement.”
Once focused on elite pros, sports nutrition brands now have their sights set on amateur athletes and recreational gym-goers
That said, while different consumer groups may benefit from similar ingredients in their sports nutrition products, the sports nutrition space must recognise that it is catering for an increasingly wide and diverse audience. “So much about this is the brand, and what the permission of the brand is with regards to targeting a broader consumer demographic,” Morgan says.
Healthy agers are drawn to products that focus on joint and bone health, and can help them maintain active living and independence for years
Often, there is a need for specificity. “When targeting various consumer groups like elite athletes and sports enthusiast, there is an overlap in terms of ingredients, but audiences use different channels to research and purchase products,” de Pelsmaeker notes. “Professional athletes and bodybuilders tend to consult nutritionists, while weekend warriors and recreational gym-goers prefer to look for products online, be it websites or social media. While professional athletes and bodybuilders remain a strong consumer segment, we are noticing that sports nutrition products are also appealing to a more diverse audience with different expectations. Recreational and lifestyle athletes are, for example, looking for convenient, science-backed products with recognisable ingredient lists, while healthy agers are drawn to more natural options that focus on joint and bone health, and can help them maintain an active way of life for years.”
Miller believes that the importance of targeted branding is not necessarily a bad thing. If anything, he says it could be a strength for the category, particularly given the amount of market space that is now occupied by supermarket own-brand variants of classic protein shakes and bars.
Elsewhere, the subset of the female sports nutrition consumer is gaining the spotlight. Female consumers are increasingly demanding sports nutrition formulas that appeal to and cater for female-specific needs. While everyone, regardless of sex and gender, can benefit from sports nutrition solutions to support their post-workout recovery, it is important to understand the hormonal differences between different sexes and how tailored products can maximise the benefits for female athletes, says de Pelsmaeker.
Yet brands and technological advancements in the female sports nutrition space tend to lag behind consumer demand. Kleiner observes a few brands, such as Thorne and USANA, refocusing on iron supplements but says she still is not seeing much true innovation. De Pelsmaeker adds that with a market share of less than 5% sports nutrition, solutions with ‘for women’ label claims are a relatively niche product category; their compound annual growth rate shrank 10.5% from 2015-2020. Kleiner, however, notes that much of the process is still in the laboratory phase, and that much more research is happening on female sports nutrition. “The most visible innovation is in apps based on managing diet and training relative to the menstrual cycle, such as FitrWoman and Wild AI,” she says.
How can brands respond to this growing demand and promising innovation in the female sports nutrition space? “The way forward for female-centric brands is to move from explicit ‘for women’ labelling and predominantly pink packaging to a holistic and inclusive approach that effectively communicates the benefits of sports nutrition solutions that will mostly attract female athletes and sports enthusiasts,” de Pelsmaeker says. “Focusing on collagen-based solutions, this concept could combine muscle repair and skin beauty messaging to tap into the ‘health, wellness and active lifestyle’ trend. Collagen peptides, for example, possess science-backed benefits for mobility, recovery and beauty from within, and can help manufacturers develop hybrid products with multiple benefits that achieve retail shelf differentiation and create strong appeal for female sports nutrition consumers.”
Kleiner agrees with the importance of empowering brand messaging. “It would be great to see more women in decision-making roles in brands that want to sell to females, and funding the science to prove efficacy of claims,” she advises. “There should be more educational marketing targeted to the active and athletic female.”
