Last year\u2019s trend spotting<\/a> observed that, despite being well-established, protein was evolving across diverse formats, giving rise to \u201cprotein-ified\u201d products that cater to specific functional needs.<\/p>\n\u201cLooking back, it\u2019s funny that we ever described protein as a trend because it\u2019s so well established,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cWhat we had seen, though, was protein accelerating into virtually every possible format, especially across mainstream food products.\u201d<\/p>\n
The industry is seeing this momentum continue, \u2018often from brands you wouldn\u2019t necessarily expect\u2019, he said.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, protein sources themselves are becoming one of the bigger themes. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s significant price pressure around whey protein at the moment,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cMany people may not realize just how challenging the cost per kilo of whey concentrate and isolate has become, and supply is also an issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn fact, there are exhibitors here with very little product to sell, which is fascinating in itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a result, interest in complementary protein sources is accelerating, be that plant protein, fermentation-derived proteins, mycoprotein, yeast-based solutions, or something else.<\/p>\n
\u201cProtein is still the key buzzword, but now the conversation is becoming much more focused on which protein sources will dominate and how they\u2019ll be used,\u201d Morgan said. <\/p>\n
Hybrid ingredients and functional mashups<\/p>\n
Morgan noted a clear rise in hybrid ingredient combinations with protein as well as other ingredients.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we were going to frame a trend for this year, it might actually be \u2018hybrid\u2019,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cThat can mean different things to different people, but we\u2019re definitely seeing a rise in hybrid ingredient combinations within the protein space.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a significant shift and something we\u2019ll continue to see accelerate over the coming months.\u201d<\/p>\n
This, he noted, is evident in trending formats such as functional foods.<\/p>\n
\u201cDrinks are a very accessible format,\u201d Morgan noted. \u201cNaturally, they support hydration and electrolyte delivery, but brands are also adding protein, prebiotic fibers and other functional ingredients into those products.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that consumers want convenience and value, and as people can only consume so many separate products, combining benefits into one solution is intuitive and commercially very appealing.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, that combination effect \u2014 blending ingredients, benefits and categories together \u2014 is becoming a huge area of innovation because brands need ways to stand out in an increasingly crowded market,\u201d Morgan said.<\/p>\n
However, gummies, which are now starting to \u2018mirror the role they\u2019ve played in the U.S.\u2019 in Europe, are driven by momentum for specific trending ingredients such as creatine and lion\u2019s mane. <\/p>\n
\u201cConsumers are becoming excited about gummies that deliver specific functional benefits, rather than just traditional multivitamin gummies, which perhaps don\u2019t feel quite as exciting anymore,\u201d Morgan noted.<\/p>\n
Predictions for nutrition trends 2027<\/p>\n
Morgan noted one of the biggest changes this year compared to last is that concepts such as GLP-1 and longevity have become deeply embedded within the industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve become fundamental pillars of the sector \u2014 probably more so than many previous trends ever did,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cI think that\u2019s a really important shift for people to reflect on.\u201d<\/p>\n
He noted that many of the trends like hydration, creatine and hybrid formats, may also become similarly established pillars over time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe challenge for everyone in this industry is to stay slightly ahead of the curve,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cHydration and creatine, for example, have already been major consumer trends for the past 18 months.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe real question now is: how do companies identify the next wave of consumer demand before it fully arrives? That\u2019s the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There is a clear shift in the nutrition industry toward \u201chybrid\u201d or \u201cmashup\u201d products, Morgan said. Rather than…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":449364,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,85,46,543],"class_list":["post-449363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-nutrition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}