Scott Dicker, senior director of market insights at SPINS, said that he has witnessed the mainstreaming of sports nutrition products beyond just gym-goers and expanding to a wider demographic. Another shift he observed is a post-pandemic wellness trend where consumers connect immune health to performance.
“We saw immune supplements spike, then people realized, ‘well, I should probably de-stress and get some better sleep to not get sick’, and then that led to people saying ‘maybe I should try to get more active to not get sick in the first place,’” he said.
“And so people are making the connection to overall wellness instead of piecing things together as like one-off kind of symptom health focuses, and [there] is more of a holistic view. The mindset shift has been a real game changer for the entire industry, and sports and active nutrition has been a primary benefit as we’ve seen it be the top growing supplement category for the past three or four years now.”
Dicker also discussed the evolving weight loss supplement market, noting the rise of GLP-1 drugs and the growing demand for companion products. He highlighted key categories like protein supplements, creatine and multivitamins as poised for growth, noting the importance of maintaining muscle mass during weight loss.
Discussing format preferences, he commented that while ready-to-drink options are popular and convenient, there are limits to how many functional beverages people can consume on a daily basis.
