Name: the market for sports nutrition supplements
Brand: Businesscoot
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1.1 Categories and uses of food supplements for athletes

Food supplements are concentrates of various substances (vitamins, minerals, plant extracts...) in edible or drinkable form, with a nutritional or physiological effect as defined by the European Parliament Directive 2002/46/EC. They are between food and medicine, supposed to complement the former while avoiding the consumption of the latter.

Sportsmen and women, whether athletes or occasional, often have a much more demanding lifestyle than non-sportsmen and women. Their daily needs, especially in minerals, proteins and carbohydrates, are greater than those of inactive people. Supplements allow them to :

Make up for their nutritional deficits
Improve their performance, before, during and after exercise

There are 3 main categories of food supplements for athletes:

Those that have an effect on health, they provide the body with nutrients that the body may lack due to unbalanced nutrition;
Those consumed during the effort, they serve to maintain or even improve performance for a certain period of time;
Those allowing a better recovery.

The market for sports food supplements is booming and is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 6% by 2024. The growth of the French market follows the global growth of dietary supplements for sports.

This study does not cover energy/energy drinks (see the study on the Energy Drinks Market) nor sports food products (cereal bars, gels, enriched meals, etc.).

1.2 An explosion in global growth

As detailed below, the global market is growing. Explanatory factors include a growing awareness of the importance of exercising (***).

In recent decades, sedentary lifestyles and increased access to food have led to a sharp increase in the number of obese people worldwide: **% of adults are overweight and **% of adults are obese ...

1.3 Consequences of COVID-19 on the dietary supplements market according to a market expert

This interview was conducted by a Businesscoot analyst with a sector expert validated by our teams

Please note: this interview concerns the dietary supplements market in general and not only dietary supplements for sports

What is your vision of the market?

The dietary supplements market is growing at a rate of ...

1.4 A growing French market

There is no exact data regarding the size of the sports nutrition supplements market, so we will estimate the size of this market using the same process as the global market.

How much do the French spend on sports nutrition supplements?

A study published by My Protein in November **** classified the ...

1.5 A trade balance in surplus

For this part we consider the customs code closest to the category "food supplements" which is ******** " Food preparations, n.e. s., containing by weight *.*% milk fat, *% sucrose or isoglucose, *% glucose or starch ". It should be noted that the scope of the customs code considered is the closest to our study object ...

2.1 Profile of the average consumer

The average consumer of sports supplements is a young male from Generation Z or a millennial, born after ****. Typically from affluent families, or earning comfortably in the case of millenials, typical consumers are more likely to be members of a fitness club.[***]

It is important to note that the graphs below ...

2.2 Manufacturers identify 3 main areas of demand

The manufacturers and sellers of food supplements for sports distinguish * main categories in which they are particularly interested:

Bodybuilders and professional athletes: with the objective of improving their performance, they consume supplements to strengthen the effects of their training. Regular athletes: generally passionate but not professional, they do not push the ...

2.3 Main demand drivers

We can identify several factors that determine the consumption of dietary supplements, which also suggest a robust growth for the industry:

The increasing number of sportsmen

The rapid increase in the number of fitness centers and practitioners of this activity (***) allows for greater access to sports machines, generates an increased demand ...

2.4 Women consuming dietary supplements for sports: a trend that is still not well addressed by brands

The advertising of sports nutrition supplements is mainly directed towards men, with a strong emphasis on mass gain and bodybuilding.

However, as the graph below shows, almost as many women as men consume sports supplements on a regular basis.

Share of athletes consuming dietary supplements for sport, by gender France, ****, in ...

2.5 A demand for vegan food supplements in sports

While many sports nutrition supplements contain animal proteins (***), there is a growing demand for vegan supplements, using vegetable proteins to obtain results similar to "traditional" protein supplements.

Evolution of the use of vegetable proteins in protein powders Europe, ****-****, in % Source: ****

In fact, the graph below shows that soy, rice and ...

3.1 General organization of the sector

Organization of the sector

The market corresponds to a classic market, in which the product passes by a manufacturer then a distributor before reaching the consumer. However, there is a growing trend towards direct sales, from manufacturers to consumers through online sales sites.

Two main categories share the market for the ...

3.2 A production system that meets precise quality standards

Large laboratories and companies have appropriated the production of food supplements for sports. Often derived from natural products (***), the strength of these supplements lies in their concentration in active ingredients.

In order to be ingested effectively, the role of the industrialist will be to isolate the molecule sought or to synthesize ...

3.3 Distribution

Distributors

A **** report from the European Commission details the preferred sales channels in Europe. Although this study is dated and does not only concern France, it allows us to roughly evaluate the weight of each distribution channel mentioned in the table above. However, it should be borne in mind that the ...

4.1 An expanded offer to reach a larger audience

The sports nutrition market has a long and painful history, tainted by doping scandals, but has gradually reinvented itself. For some people, food supplements for sportsmen have almost become everyday products. Progressively, manufacturers and distributors are multiplying the number of products available on the market in order to reach a wider ...

4.2 New offers

A notable trend is the change in communication by distribution and manufacturing companies. Companies are increasingly highlighting the protein source of sports supplements (***).

At the same time, we are seeing the development of products for people who want to live a healthy lifestyle (***). The rise of the vegan movement coincides with ...

4.3 A multitude of products to meet many needs

One of the characteristics of dietary supplements for sports is the multitude of products available, not only by the number of brands on the market, but also by the type of products they offer. By the appearance and composition, the products are different from each other. Here is a list of ...

4.4 Price analysis

It is quite complex to give the average price of a sports food supplement, given the variety available on the market. From the analysis of some retailer sites (***), it is nevertheless possible to make a topology of prices:

These few price ranges show that prices tend to be relatively high, for ...

5.1 Current regulations

Regulations set up at national and European level establish a list of authorized ingredients in the manufacture of food supplements, as well as the maximum dose not to exceed for vitamins and minerals.

However, unlike drugs on the market, the marketing of these food supplements for sports does not require specific ...

5.2 The role of ANSES

In France, the national health security agency is responsible for assessing the risks associated with the consumption of supplements and has the role of setting legal limits of concentration in food supplements. In order to fulfill this mission, ANSES has set up a nutrivigilance system that collects data from health professionals ...