The market for functional drinks has expanded rapidly in recent years and is gaining in momentum as consumers become more concerned with what they eat and drink, and as new research is produced that creates and feeds on the need for new, technically advanced drinks.
Within this sector, the sports nutrition drinks segment is a prime example of this trend and has become a globally important industry segment to producers. The market has morphed from a niche segment that concerns only a small number of serious exercisers, to a much more generalised market where anyone who exercises or wants to lead a more healthy lifestyle is a potential customer.
Milk and milk protein is playing an important role in this segment. Some flavoured milks market themselves as healthy sports drinks due in part to the naturally high levels of protein inherent within milk. Other beverages marketed in this segment offer a water, juice or milk-based drink with supplementary protein, frequently in the form of the milk protein whey.
Milk protein (which is primarily casein, but also whey protein) has a high biological value – cow’s milk provides just over 3g of protein per 100ml, and buffalo milk even more.
Protein, and especially whey protein, has been shown to help enhance performance and improve physiological adaptations during training. For regular exercisers, protein helps to repair muscles faster after exercise, helping to improve performance during subsequent workouts.
Improved recovery times also help muscles to adapt faster to training and increase strength and endurance. As well as building bigger, stronger muscles, fat loss is also accelerated, giving improved body composition. Recent studies have also suggested that milk-based products can help athletes to work out for longer and improve recovery times to at least as high a degree as isotonic drinks.
There are now a number of flavoured milk products enriched with vitamins and minerals, such as Mars Refuel (Mars), For Goodness Shakes (My Goodness), and Sport Shake (Dairy Farmers of America) who market themselves specifically as sports drinks.
PepsiCo’s own Quakers Chillers range of flavoured milks, while not marketed at sports people specifically, offers similar benefits, and Coca-Cola had created a close alliance with flavoured milk specialist Bravo! Foods before the latter went into liquidation. Other dairy based sports beverages include Emmi’s Energy Milk, Multipower Fitness & Nutrition’s Fitness Shake and Norrmejerier’s Gainomax Recovery.
Some of the bigger dairy producers such as Fonterra and Arla Foods are now spending significant sums on whey research. Arla has a dedicated factory in Argentina for the production of whey protein, and focusing on the added value of whey proteins is a key strategy for the company.
Many other dairy companies have formed alliances with other suppliers and processors in order to develop whey based ingredients for their products. This suggests that further development – in what is currently an underdeveloped sector – is likely to occur in the near future.
Zenith International’s Global RTD Protein Beverages 2009 report investigates this new and evolving functional drinks category, providing in-depth analysis of the growing market, an overview of the science behind protein-enriched drinks and the benefits they can offer, along with a review of protein sources and the types of protein drinks available.
Esther Renfrew is dairy market intelligence manager at Zenith International. You can contact Esther by clicking here.
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