Over the past few years there has been a blurring between sports nutrition and lifestyle nutrition.
Initially sports nutrition was deemed as for those looking to enhance performance, shape and
sharpness through a range of supplements including protein powders, branched chained amino acids, vitamins and minerals, pre workout formulas and a whole host of other products designed to help an athlete recover, replenish and be ready for their next session.
Taste was deemed as secondary to the goal of what the product would bring to the body. This has changed dramatically over the past few years with many of the original sports supplements brands, and new players to the game, targeting all areas of health, including weight management, joint health, emotional health and beauty. With this all-encompassing shift has meant taste, delivery format of the supplement and ease of consumption has become paramount in the way brands think about the products they offer to the consumer.
From Gym Rats to Everyday People
Long gone are the days of choking down a chalky tasting protein drink to achieve your goals. New ways of flavouring products, new technologies in development of supplements and the new consumer has led the revolution.
With a market size of over 110 billion USD worldwide, and projected to be 185 billion USD by 2027, it is easy to understand why companies are striving to create the most technologically sound supplements to offer to the market. In order to reach these consumers brands have to offer products that are easy to consume and contain effective levels of active ingredients. Those who can accomplish this will win the larger share of this market. This might motivate companies to invest resources in developing new and exciting ways to deliver supplements, or to discover the next new ingredient. While this is one way of innovating to attract consumers, chasing “shiny objects” carries its own set of risks.
The Demise of Tablets and Capsules has been Greatly Exaggerated
With apologies to Mark Twain, the tableting and capsule market in the supplement sector continues to be quite strong. Although often viewed as unimaginative in delivery format, for many people it is an easy and convenient way to fit into their busy lifestyles. Also, for many supplements it is the only way to get the most effective active ingredient dose into the body without leaving an aftertaste or residue in the mouth. The problem with this is many of the key ingredients needed such as vitamins, minerals and amino acids, are very hard to work with. An example of this is creatine. A heavily researched and well used ingredient with a market size of 280 million USD worldwide. The benefits of creatine are well documented; it aids the development of muscle size and strength, it has been shown to fight muscle loss in older adults and there is even research to show it may improve brain function. The ingestion of this ingredient has often been an issue though. To take creatine in a powder form is both bitter and grainy, regardless of how it is mixed. In capsule form, even with size 0 capsules (largest ones available) the recommended dose would require taking 4-5 capsules at a time. In tablet format, due to the issues of compressing creatine, there are large amounts of inactive ingredient added to enable the tablets to press together better. This means the tablets are huge in size.
This is a similar story to tableting and encapsulation of many of the vitamins, minerals and amino acids in the marketplace that consumers are looking to add into their supplementation routine.
Therefore, manufacturers worldwide are still striving to create technologies to enable better tableting and better capsule capabilities to compete in this ever-growing marketplace.
Don’t Give up on Tablets and Capsules
While new delivery formats such as liquid sachets, fancy effervescents and ‘ready to drink’ products may be easier to market and more ‘instagrammable,’ the old, tried and tested tablets and capsules still account for nearly one third of all supplements taken world-wide. They remain the single largest dosage format category for all supplements1. They are here to stay and will continue to grow in the new lifestyle supplement world. Manufacturers such as TSI Group are constantly developing new ways of working with ingredients through our OptiMized Ingredients line. While we can help our customers adapt ingredients to new delivery formats, we also help them utilize existing tablet and capsule manufacturing to create better, more effective consumer products. Together with our partners we are ready to meet the growing ranks of supplement consumers where they want to be.
1 Source: Source: Nutrition Business Journal (NBJ) –US Consumer sales 2021