Sports nutrition market expected to grow by US$5.5bn in 2021

The report, titled The Global Market for Sports Nutrition and Dairy Ingredients 2017-2021, has shown that the market for sports nutrition will continue its value and volume growth within the dairy space. 

 

Protein powder currently represents the biggest value category followed by RTD and protein bars. 

 

North America amounts to 64 percent of the global market value followed by Western Europe, Asia Pacific and Australasia. In terms of per capita spending, Australia is the biggest spender followed by the US. In Western Europe, the UK and the Nordic countries are the heavy users.

 

Some key trends identified are: 

• Sports nutrition has seen continued expansion of its consumer base from just the core users i.e. bodybuilders and serious athletes, to a wide array of consumers looking to live a healthier and more active lifestyle, so-called active nutrition. 

• Sports protein products, particularly protein powder, remain the major sports nutrition sales category. They account for more than 80 percent of global sales value and are expected to continue growing with protein derived from whey ingredients being most significant area. 

• With a greater focus on overall health and more consumers looking for clean label products, an increasing demand for natural ingredients is seen in sports nutrition. Ingredients such as organic and grass-fed whey and milk proteins and also plant-based proteins have gained prominence due to both health and ethical concerns. 

• Online retailing is the fastest growing distribution channel in sports nutrition, as it offers extensive availability to product information, ingredients, prices etc. as well as being a convenient way of shopping. This is also due to many consumers having easy and constant access to the internet through capable smartphones and tablets. 

 

Dairy ingredients used in sports nutrition are mainly whey and milk proteins. For whey proteins, it is whey protein concentrate, whey protein hydrolysate and whey protein isolate. Native whey proteins have started to appear in sports nutrition. Milk proteins used include milk protein concentrate, milk protein isolate, milk protein hydrolysate, caseinates and to a lesser extent the new category of micellar casein.