Data, Trends in the Sports Performance Market

Performance is among the many terms that carry myriad connotations in the sports nutrition vocabulary. Often masked by category jargon such as “intensity" or “pump," the general marketing message conveyed is that the product (perhaps on account of a unique, proprietary blend) will allow a consumer to reach new heights and break through his training or athletic plateaus. While sports nutrition has a long, undistinguished history of suspect formulations and hyperbolic advertising, responsible producers also have access to a broad range of well-studied, efficacious ingredients.

Within the USD $10.1 billion global sports nutrition market, most performance boosters reside in the non-protein products category. Within Euromonitor International’s coverage, the category is home to both stand-alone ingredients—such as creatine and individual amino acids—and combination products, like branched chain amino acid (BCAA) mixes and all-in-one pre-workout supplements.

While their sales are still overshadowed by the larger protein products category (consisting of powders, ready-to-drink (RTD) products, protein bars and other protein), the category is nonetheless substantial. (Euromonitor International sports nutrition definitions only include protein bars and RTD products with a clear exercise/recovery positioning and at least 20 g of protein.) In 2014, global retail value sales (RSP) grew 7 percent to just under $2 billion.

For more information on the growing sports performance ingredients market, read the full article, “Trends in Sports Nutrition Performance Products," in INSIDER’s Sports Performance Digital Issue.