With the rising health awareness and the Olympic Summer Games 2024 ahead it’s the right moment to address a category that’s trendier than ever: Sports drinks. Find here its required ingredients as well as ideas for the ideal flavour.
Why
During exercise, rehydration is essential: Since even mild dehydration causes performance to rapidly decline.
Sports Drinks containing carbohydrates and electrolytes are a convenient way to properly rehydrate and postpone the beginning of weariness.*
Even though sports drinks are technically not defined by law, several experts report similar stats. Find here 3 examples:
Find below the recommended composition of sports drinks by the Scientific Committee on Food of the European Commission:
Composition
The drink should supply carbohydrate as the major energy source and should contain 80 – 350 kcal / liter. At least 75% of the energy should be derived from glucose, glucose polymers and sucrose.*
460 – 1150 mg sodium per liter is an optimum in order to quickly rehydrate the human body during exercise.*
*source: Report of the Scientific Committee on Food on composition and specification of food intended to meet the expenditure of intense muscular effort, especially for sportsmen, 2001
Studies have shown that carbohydrate and sodium in electrolyte drinks are essential in order to grant optimal fluid and energy supply.
Adding additional nutrients (such as vitamins or minerals) to sports drinks is possible and common practice.
Trends
Growing health awareness has led to a growing number of sugar-reduced beverages.
But less calories don’t necessarily mean less taste: Did you know that pink beverages are perceived as sweeter than differently coloured beverages? Find more details here.
We also see more inclusion of protein and BCAAs in sports drinks. While these ingredients offer valuable benefits for athletes, e.g. muscle recovery, their strong flavours can be challenging to mask.
Contact us if you’re looking for solutions to mask off-flavours.
Flavours
How do sports drinks in 2024 taste?
As 2024 is esarom’s year of the peach (also Pantone dedicated this year to “Peach fuzz”) we expect the juicy flavour to become more popular throughout this year.
"Peach is the top flavour in the food industry within 2024. "
As shown above, the most popular flavours for sports drinks are citrus fruits. Add a fancy twist to your isotonic beverage and surprise your customers with the taste of pear or cranberry. There’s big potential for these fruits to become the next big thing.
What you should know about sports drinks
- The demand for sports drinks will increase significantly in the long term, as consumers’ health awareness and participation in sports are expected to rise.
- Innovative products, with refreshing flavours, low-calorie content will help in attracting a wider consumer base.
Don’t miss the rising potential in the sports drink category – e.g. isotonic drinks with L-carnitine, vitamin mixes, added proteins, etc.
Contact us and benefit from esarom’s expertise: With a broad portfolio and know-how about sports drinks, we’ll be happy to develop together a tailor-made solution with specific flavour and function that your customers will crave.
