Protein beverages widen market appeal
Once a niche market for serious exercisers, the appeal of ready to drink protein-enriched beverages has now expanded to water, juice and milk based variants plus an increasing number of smoothies, according to new research from leading drinks consultancy Zenith International.
Esther Renfrew, Dairy Market Intelligence Manager at Zenith, explained that: “Ready to drink protein beverages have benefited from a number of factors including technological advances and changes in lifestyle as well as improvements in the taste and texture of products.â€Â
Zenith’s 2009 report on Global RTD Protein Beverages examines why protein is important to human health and how supplementary protein can be beneficial. The advantages of supplementary protein have been accepted for some time in the bodybuilding community, but recent studies have indicated that a protein rich diet can work for a number of different groups. For instance, protein has been found to affect satiety, enabling companies to target weight management.
The Zenith report finds that the main challenges faced by companies include public scepticism of the science and claims, alongside strong competition in an ever more congested functional drinks market. To succeed, businesses must not only create a tasty product, they must also ensure it is backed up by scientific evidence and demonstrably fulfils any claims made.
Zenith’s 2009 Global RTD Protein Beverages report also finds that:
- The main types of protein-enriched drinks are exercise drinks, weight management drinks, clinical drinks, energy drinks and juice drinks.
- Whey is the most popular form of supplementary protein. Other sources include casein, milk, soy, egg whites and legumes.
- Key target customer groups for RTD protein beverages are the elderly, young children and hospital patients, along with the existing sports nutrition consumers.
The transformation from niche to mass market has certainly begun, but there is still unsatisfied potential. The entry of a major player with global distribution and sizeable marketing budgets would help to educate consumers more about the benefits of protein and take the segment to the next level.
The 2009 Zenith Report on Global RTD Protein Beverages contains over 80 pages including market trends, protein sources, who can benefit from protein supplements, types of protein drinks, industry challenges and SWOT analysis plus 33 company and brand profiles. Contact Zenith International on tel +44 (0)1225 327900 or e-mail dairy@zenithinternational.com.
For further information, please contact:
Esther Renfrew, Zenith International Ltd
7 Kingsmead Square, Bath BA1 2AB, United Kingdom
t +44 (0)1225 327900, f +44 (0)1225 327901
zenithinternational.com