Dividing the Athletic Nutrition Market for Daily and Professional Sportspersons

The sports and active nutrition marketplace is persistently adjusting to cater to varied consumer demographics and distinctive fitness objectives.

“Customers are gravitating away from generic solutions. They prefer sports nutrition products designed to meet unique fitness requirements, dietary inclinations, and health issues. This evolution contributes to the overall emphasis on individualized wellness, in which customers demand products that sync with their personal physique and life choices,” asserts Pelin Thorogood, co-founder and executive chairwoman of Radicle Science.

While professional athletes remain significant, sports nutrition brands have now begun prioritizing the average consumers for market expansion.

Current core customers are not necessarily preparing for marathons or seeking supreme athletic prowess. Their primary focus is on boosting their overall health and wellness, keeping preventive measures and healthful aging in mind, says Susan Hewlings, PhD, RD, senior vice president of scientific affairs at Radicle Science. They’re intrigued by components that encourage vitality, boost joint health, enhance skin elasticity, and strengthen immune responses.

Mainstream adoption of sports and active nutritional supplements is propelled by changing perceptions of modern consumers about body image, the growing health associations with protein, and the realization of the importance of embracing broader health goals and significant lifestyle modifications, explains Matthew Oster, senior industry manager of consumer health at Euromonitor International.

Jordan Miller, vice president of marketing at Nutrition21, observes that mainstream brands are targeting staunch sports nutrition consumers, while seasoned brands in the sector are trying to foray into more conventional arenas.

Consumers’ spending trends reflect this shift, adds Bryan Morin, brand manager of NOW Sports. Holistically-minded sports nutrition customers are incorporating general wellness products like vitamin D, omega-3s, and probiotics into their routines, while traditional wellness shoppers are showing interest in performance-oriented products.

“Over the past year, there’s been a substantial tilt towards wholesome health and wellness,” agrees Sébastien Bornet, vice president of global sales and marketing at Horphag Research. He notes that the company’s proprietary pine bark extract, Pycnogenol, has been gaining appreciation in the sports nutrition segment due to athletes’ interests in these whole wellness products.

Grand View Research appraises the global sports nutrition market to be worth $45.24 billion in 2023, anticipating a growth of 7.5% CAGR from 2024 to 2030.

The most explosive growth in this market is visible in emerging regions that previously had limited market reach, reports Oster. Both traditional performance supplies for muscle growth and generalized active nutrition products are gaining traction in these areas.

Noteworthy offerings in this space include NOW’s E-Sport Reaction, featuring an extended-release caffeine, botanical extracts, and a maqui berry extract for dry eye support, and GHOST Gamer energy supplements targeted at fulfilling top-tier gamers’ cognitive and energy requirements. Products such as Ultima Replenisher’s new hydration powder with Nutrition21’s Chromax to aid weight management goals, and Ascent’s Clean Hydration + Energy powder with caffeine to boost athletes’ energy while focusing on hydration, are making strides in the market.