The influence of sportification on the F&B industry

In the past, sports nutrition products were aimed at a very small target group with very special dietary needs. However, living healthily in the 21st century is strongly connected to an active lifestyle and this has given rise to a new trend: sportification. As part of this trend, a growing number of mainstream consumers are showing strong interest in sportified products. Food Review recently spoke to Konstantin Grissmer, product manager of functional carbohydrates at Beneo about this rising trend.

Q: What is the definition of sports nutrition and how has this changed in recent years?

There are two main drivers in the market for sportified foods. Firstly, sports nutrition is becoming more mainstream through a variety of different food applications, allowing brands to target lifestyle users of sportified products. Secondly, regular foods, such as snack brands, are becoming sportive, enabling them to reach an additional target group of occasionally active consumers. This double-pronged approach to engaging consumers in sports nutrition means that it increasingly holds appeal to all consumers, regardless of how active they may be.

The classic sports nutrition principle of “improving performance” is still the underlying idea today, but loses its emphasis the more the sports nutrition industry also targets active people, as opposed to being an elite platform only. Despite this, products and brands still tend to be defined by elite athletes, whose association with a product endorses its relevance.

Q: What is currently trending in the gaming/e-sports industry, particularly when it comes to food and beverage demands?

COVID-19 has accelerated the trend in e-gaming with a significant increase in gamer numbers as a result of the pandemic – especially in the USA, France, UK and German markets . According to Mintel, the market for gaming in Europe experienced a 7% year-on-year growth in 2020 and generated $33billon.

As interest in e-sports continues to rise, this is an area that’s prime for sports nutrition. As with other more traditional sports, performance and endurance are key for e-sports athletes, opening up a whole new audience for sports nutrition manufacturers.

Q: Why has Beneo decided to target the gaming/e-sports communities?

With e-sports growing to be big business across the globe, e-athletes are under enormous pressure to perform at their best and many are seeking out products that will help them excel. This target audience has diverse needs, both mental and physical, from improved concentration to help them react quickly, through to alleviating back and neck pain, fatigue and headaches, caused from being in front of a screen for prolonged periods of time. The same can be said for the growing number of leisure gamers who aspire to boost their performance in a similar way to e-athletes, just like in traditional sports. With this in mind, we see a big opportunity for manufacturers to tap into this rising trend for e-sports using our ingredients to help improve performance, while also delivering mainstream appeal.

Q: What ingredients are you using and why?

While many manufacturers continue to develop products that offer a quick energy boost via rapidly available carbohydrates such as maltodextrin, sucrose or glucose syrup in combination with caffeine or taurine, this will not deliver the sustained energy e-athletes need to maintain concentration for a long period of time. However, alternative carbohydrates like Palatinose offer a balanced supply of glucose energy to help them to stay focused. Scientists have also found that products containing Palatinose can help enhance a person’s mood and memory skills - two very important factors when it comes to e-sports.

Q: Which flavours are doing particularly well?

The classic format for gamers is still the energy drink with 63% of gaming nutrition products being either powder or readyto-drink energy drinks. 28% of gaming products are capsules, tablets or gummies and the remaining 9% can be anything else like bars or meal replacement powders.

In terms of flavours, a lot of them are fruit-based, but they are generally more exciting than the standard single fruit flavour that we know from other beverages. Often the name of the flavour is a madeup name that has a certain meaning in the gaming world or just something that can appeal to gamers specifically without giving away the actual flavour of the product, such as “Hulk Juice” or “Dark Savage”. Having said that, fruit flavours with a little twist, like “Cherry Storm” or “Sour Grape Ape” or traditional beverage flavours like “Peach Iced Tea” are also not

uncommon.

Q: What are the challenges surrounding nutrition in this industry? How is Beneo helping to overcome these?

A particular challenge faced as an industry that will continue to grow in importance over the coming year is that sportified products should be for everybody, not just for athletes. Most popular sports nutrition drinks on the market today have been designed to increase energy during exercise, therefore these products traditionally contain high glycaemic carbohydrates like maltodextrin, glucose syrup and sucrose. These carbohydrates release glucose into the bloodstream at a fast rate and this is fine for those in need of instant energy for intensive athletic training, such as sprinting. However, for casual fitness users looking to tone their

bodies and reduce fat, high glycaemic products can trigger large peaks and troughs in both blood glucose and insulin levels during physical training, minimising not maximising their fat burning potential. More and more forward-looking beverage manufacturers are using functional ingredients such as Palatinose (generic name: isomaltulose) in their sports drink ranges, as this low glycaemic carbohydrate can meet the specific needs of the casual fitness user.

Q: What's next for Beneo in this category?

With 3 in 4 consumers worldwide saying that they will “make attempts to eat and drink more healthily as a result of the pandemic”, it is no surprise that the health credentials of sports nutrition products are increasingly being analysed by athletes and fitness users. Therefore, label transparency will continue to increase in importance as consumers demand more transparent and simpler labelling across the board. This will also mean an increase in demand for real and authentic ingredients that provide energy, highlighting further opportunities for our ingredients derived from natural sources such as sugar beet. Furthermore, while consumers may physically be doing less during the pandemic, mentally, we are working harder than ever. With this in mind, products that can help them maintain energy levels throughout the day, be it a natural energy or mood booster or improving mental performance are likely to grow in popularity and should be an emerging area of focus for manufacturers. A great example of this is Power Look, a caffeinated drink from Germany containing berry extract and isomaltulose, which promotes vision and concentration.

Q: Anything else you would like our readers to know?

Derived from sugar beet, Beneo’s alternative sugar Palatinose is fully, yet slowly digestible and low-glycaemic. It is ideal for use in various applications as it is soluble, very low hygroscopy and comes with a mild sugar-like sweetening profile. From a nutritional point of view, it delivers the full energy a person needs to function, but has a balanced effect on blood sugar levels. In other words, it provides full carbohydrate energy in a sustained way, eliminating unwanted “boost and crash” blood sugar spikes. It also has a respective EU health claim to substantiate its low glycaemic property. Being low glycaemic and low insulinemic, it helps to burn fat more effectively within the energy metabolism. This increased fat burning rate is beneficial for the body composition of athletes and active consumers and also means that when Palatinose is used in sports nutrition products, active consumers can draw on their carbohydrate reserves for longer. These physiological benefits make it the ideal functional ingredient for use not only in products aimed at endurance athletes, but also for those targeted at casual fitness users or for those who are beginning to get active. Also, due to its low hygroscopicity, Palatinose absorbs virtually no moisture and remains stable under harsh processing conditions, meaning it can be used to create a wide range of sports drinks powders, bars and other applications. •

Savannah Fine Chemicals – www.savannah.co.za Beneo – www.beneo.com

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Our Sales Network Partner in South Africa:

info@savannah.co.za

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