From the gym bros to the dog walkers: innovating in a difficult macro- economic environment means you need to know the gaps per consumer segment and get it right the first time.
The HMT-Healthy Marketing Team, the leading international specialist agency for innovation, marketing and branding in food & health, have just released a new report, which was conducted in collaboration with the University of Maastricht, looking at the innovation opportunities in sports nutrition. According to Future Market Insights, the global sports nutrition market has a forecasted CAGR of 9.3% from 2021 to 2031. It is evident that there are opportunities in the field but not every trend is right for every brand. With 80% of new product launches failing within 12 months, especially in times of recession, it is crucial to know the space which a brand occupies in the mind of the consumer and which innovation will be accepted when coming from it. The new research is
therefore looking at trends and innovation opportunities per consumer segment. Main findings include:
• There are 2 trends identified for the professional athletes or similar, which in the report are called “Technology stakeholders”: mental health/ focus and discipline-specific nutrition: endurance activities and e-sports.
• For the lifestyle stakeholders, fitness influencers or “gym bros”, the innovation spaces lie within stress reduction, inner balance, recovery, and sleep as well as plant- based options.
• In the early mass- market we find recreational sports people, those who aspire to follow an active lifestyle. The trend here is taking a holistic approach with multi-purpose products but also offering grab and go/ convenient formats.
• Finally, the report stresses that there are also opportunities to be had in the late mass market as long brands take a conscious decision to address that space. There are the consumers referred to in the report as “daily strollers”. Basically some low intensity activity is the goal for this group who doesn’t have a performance objective. The trend here is indulgence with the sensory aspects as one of the main drivers for customers purchasing decisions. The other trend are simple functional claims such as high protein/ high vitamins/ antioxidants/ low sugar.
• Personalized nutrition and probiotics are two additional trends which are identified as transcending segments. According to the research both of these trends can be found across all consumer segments but what varies are the execution and the storytelling per each target audience.
The report is further looking at leading ingredients per segment and trend. For example for the lifestyle stakeholders and the stress reduction trend, ashwagandha and CBD are two of the up and coming ingredients in new product formulations. While for the late mass market consumer something like the new generation stevia or added nutrients can already go along way in innovation.
Peter Wennström, founder of The HMT, says: “The purpose of our analysis is to highlight the gaps in innovation in sports nutrition. With a recession looming, many brands will have a hard time so it is more important than ever to understand the space you occupy in the mind of the consumer and what innovations are expected from your brand. So yes, to innovation, especially in times of crisis, but yes to better targeted innovations.”
Innovations in Food (& Beverage) Technology is a quarterly magazine distributed globally both in Print and Digital formats. www.innovationsfood.com. Twitter: @Innovfoodtech. Instagram: @innovationsinfoodtechnology. Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/terry-prior52
