Have there been many shifts in consumer behaviour due to Covid-19? “In the short term, the sports nutrition market will have been impacted by the closure of gyms, lockdown restricting the extent that consumers can exercise and recessionary concerns resulting in consumers looking to reduce spend, especially if they were turning to sports nutrition snacks for general snacking purposes. However, any hits have been short term and the market is recovering as consumers take a more proactive approach to wellbeing and look to boost their physical health. Indeed, FMCG Gurus believes that as a result of COVID-19, there will be an increase in Active Nutrition consumers who are currently dissatisfied with their diets and lifestyles and want to make changes to minimize their vulnerability to disease and illness.”
How is the market for active and performance nutrition changing? “One key area in which the sports nutrition market will evolve for both types of consumers over the next couple of years, is the issue of cognitive health and mental wellbeing. Across the globe, a high proportion of consumers are not satisfied with their mental wellbeing, with issues such as stress and anxiety being common. This is something that will only continue to intensify in 2020 and beyond because of high levels of uncertainty brought about by COVID-19. Active Nutrition consumers are recognizing that issues such as fatigue and stress can impact on their health beyond influencing mood and can directly impact the immune system. Meanwhile Performance Nutrition consumers recognize that cognitive health and focus and concentration has a direct impact on performance levels when working out. For both sets of consumers, there will be increased focus on sports nutrition products that offer cognitive benefits over the next couple of years.”
Is the sport nutrition market opening to new groups of consumers like the seniors, wanting to remain active longer? “Seniors remain a massive market for the sports nutrition market – and a demographic that continues to be relatively untapped by the industry. One of the reasons for this is that the packaging design and positioning of sports nutrition products are often targeted at younger adults. However, across the globe, the proportion of senior consumers continues to rise. Moreover, consumers are adopting the notion of healthy ageing at a time when more emphasis is placed on older consumers being more vulnerable to disease and illness. At the same time, issues such as obesity tend to be more common amongst seniors whilst so does insufficient intake of protein. As such, there is considerable opportunity to grow the sports nutrition market over the next five years by targeting seniors.”
What are your predictions for the active and performance nutrition market over the next 3-5 years? “The Performance Nutrition market will continue to remain something of a niche and specialist market, with very few of the population classifying as genuine Performance Nutrition consumers. However, the Active Nutrition market is one that will continue to grow. This is because of factors such as changing meal-time habits, time-scarcity and stress having a major impact on consumers’ health and at the same time, these consumers taking a more proactive approach to wellbeing. As such, these consumers will make greater attempts to engage in physical activity but more noticeably, will look to make changes to their dietary habits such as substituting traditional snacking options for high protein/low sugar alternatives. If these products are satisfactory from a sensory perspective and consumers like the taste and texture of products, they will only continue to become more mainstream.”
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