The Could difficulty of Beverage Trade famous that sports activities and protein drinks are going past their conventional use for muscle constructing and coaching. Consultants shared that the fashionable client is popping to those drinks to help energetic life and total well-being.
“The rise of fitness-focused life has fueled demand for sports activities and protein drinks that transcend hydration and muscle restoration,” stated Mitch Madoff, head of retail partnerships at Keychain, New York. “Customers need merchandise that match their holistic wellness objectives, main manufacturers to innovate with clear components, low sugar and added advantages like electrolytes and plant-based proteins.”
Paige Leyden, affiliate director of foodservice, flavors and components stories at Chicago-based Mintel, shared related ideas in Beverage Trade’s Could difficulty.
“The elevation of health life-style client traits has considerably influenced the U.S. sports activities and protein drink markets,” she acknowledged. “With customers prioritizing energetic life and bodily well-being, demand has shifted towards practical drinks that help these objectives. This has pushed key developments, together with elevated consumption, creative product choices, broader attraction and gender-specific advertising and marketing.”
Sherry Frey, vp of complete wellness at NielsenIQ (NIQ), Chicago, famous that health life-style traits are impacting these markets outdoors of conventional retailers, particularly the protein drink market.
“For example, we see each are within the Prime 15 meals classes bought on TikTok store (sports activities drinks No. 8 and protein drinks No. 13),” she defined in Beverage Trade’s Could difficulty. “The truth is, when simply taking a look at on-line gross sales, 24% of protein drinks are bought on-line, whereas solely 16% of sports activities drinks are, indicating we’re seeing customers influenced in retailers apart from conventional retailers. This has impacted the family penetration.”
Frey famous that NIQ Omnishopper information for the 52 weeks ending Feb. 22 confirmed that there’s 30% family penetration in protein drinks, in contrast with 75% in sports activities drinks.
“Protein drinks have gained 2.8 factors of family penetration within the final yr, whereas sports activities drinks dropped 1.6 factors,” she added.
When it comes to efficiency during the last yr (xAOC + comfort), Frey famous that sports activities drinks had been down 0.9% in {dollars} and three.7% in models for the 52 weeks ending March 22. In the meantime, protein drinks had been up 22.5% in {dollars} and 18.6% in models for a similar time interval.
“Whereas protein drinks are rising, it’s a a lot smaller class (about one-tenth the dimensions) of sports activities drinks,” she stated.
Roger Dilworth, senior analyst at Wintersville, Ohio-based Beverage Advertising and marketing Company (BMC), shared in Beverage Trade’s Could difficulty that sports activities drinks declined in quantity by 2.5% in 2024, with retail {dollars} primarily flat.
“Protein drinks, however, grew quantity by 11.5% and retail {dollars} by 16%,” he stated. “Since sports activities drinks are of for much longer classic than protein drinks, a minimum of within the RTD [ready-to-drink] realm, health life-style client traits appear to have benefited protein drinks greater than sports activities drinks.”
In accordance with information from Chicago-based Circana, within the 52 weeks ending on April 20, the Prime 5 non-aseptic sports activities drinks had been as follows: Gatorade, BODYARMOR, Powerade, Electrolit and PRIME. The class’s gross sales had been above $11.5 billion, with Gatorade’s gross sales surpassing $7.5 billion.
Nevertheless, Circana’s information exhibits that the non-aseptic sport drink class skilled a decline of 0.5% throughout the identical interval.
As for sports activities drink mixes, the section reached $1.5 billion in gross sales within the 52 weeks ending April 20. The Prime 5 manufacturers within the section had been Liquid I.V., Gatorade, Propel, Nuun and Personal Label. Liquid I.V.’s gross sales had been up 28.2%, simply above $905 million.
A shifting market
Except for client traits, specialists famous that practical and hybrid beverage traits have impacted the sports activities and protein drink classes.
Mintel’s Leyden defined in Beverage Trade’s Could difficulty how these beverage traits have reshaped the sports activities and efficiency drink markets by driving innovation and increasing client attraction.
“These traits have led to a blurring of conventional beverage classes, broader consumption events and a deal with versatility and taste,” she acknowledged. “This evolution is fueling market development and attracting a wider vary of consumers looking for artistic and adaptable beverage choices.”
Equally, Keychain’s Madoff expressed that the blurring of class strains has allowed the markets to achieve a broader vary of customers.
“Practical and hybrid beverage traits are blurring class strains, with sports activities and protein drinks including probiotics and immunity-boosting components to achieve a wider viewers past simply athletes,” Madoff stated in Beverage Trade’s Could difficulty. “Manufacturers like poppi and Olipop have popularized prebiotics, encouraging different beverage classes to comply with swimsuit and cater to in the present day’s health-conscious customers.”
BMC’s Dilworth, in the meantime, prompt that practical/hybrid traits are having some impression available on the market, however principally extra on the protein drink class, as there are seemingly extra varieties launched with espresso, nutritional vitamins and minerals.
“Sports activities drinks, since they’re typically used earlier than and through vigorous cardio exercise, seemingly have a stricter purview by way of what further components could be added safely,” he stated in Beverage Trade’s Could difficulty.
NIQ’s Frey shared that the continued blurring of strains extends throughout all beverage classes.
“For example, non-alcoholic drinks are more and more trying like practical drinks,” she defined in Beverage Trade’s Could difficulty. “We see a deal with hydration throughout dietary supplements and beverage enhancers, which can be displaying up more and more in drinks. With protein drinks, we’re seeing claims decreasing fatigue, muscle well being, power, efficiency, mind well being and even hydration well being.”
Frey added that NIQ has noticed development in natural sports activities drinks in addition to new merchandise development in clear label claims similar to pure flavors, pure sweeteners and free from synthetic sweeteners.
In the meantime, Keychain’s Madoff, in Beverage Trade’s Could difficulty, acknowledged that the shift towards pure and natural merchandise is reworking the sports activities and protein drink markets, pushing manufacturers towards clean-label formulations.
“Customers are paying nearer consideration to components favoring merchandise free from synthetic sweeteners, colours and preservatives,” he defined. “This demand has fueled innovation in organic-certified, plant-based protein drinks like Ripple and pure electrolyte-replenishing sports activities drinks like Nuun.”
Mintel’s Leyden echoed related sentiments, pointing to demand for clear label as cultivating innovation.
“These preferences are fostering innovation and creating alternatives to cater to youth and households, whereas additionally enhancing client belief,” she stated in Beverage Trade’s Could difficulty. “Thirty-eight p.c of customers search for all-natural claims in comparison with 23% of customers who search for natural claims when buying sports activities drinks.”
BMC’s Dilworth famous that there appears to solely be a small impression of pure and natural on the sports activities and protein drink markets.
“[T]right here will at all times be a section of the inhabitants that search these attributes, however it’s not a serious part of both market thus far,” he stated in Beverage Trade’s Could difficulty.
As for protein drinks and whether or not recovery-based merchandise dominate the market, or are extra centered on meal alternative, Dilworth felt that “it’s tough to measure what share is used for restoration and what’s used for meal alternative.”
“RTD protein drinks would seemingly are usually extra for meal alternative, whereas severe ‘muscle-heads’ would seemingly go for protein powders,” he acknowledged. “Plus, because the protein drink and meal alternative classes merge de facto, there are numerous folks — significantly seniors — that eat protein drinks interchangeably with grownup diet merchandise like Guarantee.”
NIQ’s Frey anticipated extra development coming from the recovery-based merchandise, versus the meal replacements.
Keychain’s Madoff prompt that, as folks prioritize their well being and wellness, protein drinks similar to Muscle Milk and Orgain have change into fashionable for his or her post-workout restoration help — serving to customers replenish vitamins and help muscle restore after train.
“On the similar time, the demand for meal alternative protein drinks is rising, as busy life make fast, on-the-go choices extra interesting,” he stated in Beverage Trade’s Could difficulty. “Whereas many customers nonetheless favor entire meals, manufacturers like Huel, Soylent and OWYN are catering to these on the go by providing plant-based, nutrient-dense drinks that substitute full meals, offering a handy answer for these with hectic schedules.”
Going ahead
Because the sports activities and protein drinks market continues to innovate to satisfy client want states, specialists predicted how upcoming traits would affect the class going ahead.
“For sports activities drinks, there could possibly be a renewed curiosity in formulating with coconut water, on condition that coconut water has been rising quickly these days,” BMC’s Dilworth shared in Beverage Trade’s Could difficulty “Sports activities drinks might face sharper criticism for his or her components, so entrepreneurs might proactively look to enhance them to incorporate extra pure and natural.
“Protein drinks might start to emphasise extra area of interest attributes, similar to including extra collagen or calling out that the protein supply is ‘grass fed’ and the like,” he continued. “There must be persevering with developments in plant-based proteins, together with from sources not recognized in the present day.”
Keychain’s Madoff thought of personalization and sustainability to be two main traits that may form the way forward for the sports activities and protein drinks markets.
“We’ll seemingly see extra merchandise tailor-made to particular wants, like hydration drinks for endurance athletes or protein blends for various metabolic sorts,” he stated in Beverage Trade’s Could difficulty. “Sustainability may even play an enormous position, with eco-friendly packaging and moral sourcing serving to manufacturers stand out.
“Influencer collaborations are one other pattern to observe,” Madoff continued. “Take MrBeast and Logan Paul’s partnership with PRIME Hydration for example — they created a tropical-flavored drink that tapped into their enormous fan bases, serving to PRIME attain an excellent wider viewers.”
In the meantime, NIQ’s Frey prompt that the protein drink market would proceed to innovate with enhanced dietary merchandise, whereas the sports activities drink class would possibly face continued challenges within the subsequent yr.
“Throughout the shop, we proceed to see customers searching for merchandise that meet particular well being and want states, like digestive well being, immunity, metabolism help, efficiency help, mind well being, irritation help, hydration, and even temper and stress,” she acknowledged in Beverage Trade’s Could difficulty. “Sports activities and protein drinks, and different drinks, will seemingly paved the way on assembly the wants of those client priorities.
“We anticipate that we are going to proceed to see enhanced diet, for instance, seeing development in protein drinks which can be a ‘good supply of fiber’ and helpful vitamins similar to calcium, iron, minerals, and many others.,” Frey continued. “We additionally anticipate continued evolution round formulations and sugar as we see shifts within the class round each lowered sugar in addition to added sugars.”
BMC’s Dilworth anticipated the game drink market to barely decline throughout the subsequent yr, whereas the protein drinks market will expertise steady development.
“Sports activities drinks are anticipated to say no, however at a slower price than in 2024,” Dilworth shared. “Retail greenback gross sales ought to develop within the 1% vary. Protein drinks will proceed to develop quantity and retail {dollars} close to or at double-digit charges.”
Mintel’s Leyden predicted that customers’ elevated curiosity in dietary advantages would drive demand for each markets within the coming yr.
“Expanded consumption events, with extra folks integrating these drinks into day by day routines, will drive demand,” she stated in Beverage Trade’s Could difficulty. “Taste innovation may even be a key focus, as model introduce numerous choices to draw and retain prospects. The continuing demand for practical advantages, similar to dietary help, power boosts and restoration options will stay central.
“Manufacturers that align with these traits and prioritize client well being objectives can count on to see continued success,” Leyden concluded.
