Sports nutrition has traditionally been big business in the natural-ingredient industry. Athletes of all types have looked for products that could help boost performance. High-school basketball players, body builders and weight lifters were the main users of these athletic-enhancing ingredients. They were mostly younger men who bought powders, shakes and bars; but now, such ingredients are finding their ways into other supplements and fortified foods that appeal to a larger consumer base.
Now, you may find man in his early 70s or a mom with two screaming kids bumping elbows with weekend warriors as they look for ways to add protein to their diets via dietary supplements or fortified foods. They may be looking for the same health benefit, or not. Adding protein to the diet can boost exercise recovery, help build muscle and increase satiety (which can lead to weight loss). Add to this new innovations that lead to a variety of delivery forms and a number of sourcing options, and it’s no wonder this market has undergone quite a ‘bodybuilding’ experience itself.
“Solae’s research indicates more consumers associate the benefits of protein to satiety, or helping them feel fuller longer, and building and maintaining lean muscle mass,” said Jean Heggie, marketing director at Solae. “Interest and awareness of these benefits is what is really driving the introduction of more products positioned as high protein in the market today.” She added, according to Mintel's Global New Products Database (GNPD), in 2009, 1,137 global product launches were positioned as "high protein,” which was an increase of 36 percent compared to 2008. The top categories of foods with "high protein" claims were snack/cereal/energy bars, meat snacks, meal replacement and other beverages, meat substitutes and soy-based drinks, in that order.
David Kraus, global application manager, Solbar, said consumers are looking to replace carbohydrates with protein, making this a hot category. “People understand consuming a high amount of carbohydrates is not healthy, so people are looking for ways to reduce carbohydrates and the glycemic index (GI) of the foods they are eating. One of the ways to do that is by increasing the amount of protein in the diet. Another issue that is very fashionable is satiety. People would like to eat foods that make them fuller and happier for the longest time possible. If you consume simple sugars or high-GI products, you feel hungry quite quickly. When you consume proteins, you are not hungry for a long period of time.”
And, consumers increasingly want health benefits from natural products. “Driving interest is a growing distrust of nutrition labels that wear ingredients lists a yard long, and are brimming with words consumers can't understand,” said Joe Stout, research scientist, Mt. Capra. “Natural protein ingredients can solve this by having just three or four common ingredients on the label.”
While the current daily recommended value (DRV) of protein is 46 g/d for women and 56 g/d for men, Mark Anderson, Triarco’s director of R&D, said some experts have encouraged USDA to increase them, and he expects new guidelines later this year. “Of course, whether or not these guidelines are eventually changed, Triarco is confident consumers care deeply about making the most of the protein they do consume, and want to get the best value for their supplement dollar.”
