Sports nutrition on starting block in China
wave of sports nutrition product development in China, boosting
demand for dairy proteins, believes one supplier.
While high-energy isotonic drinks are already available in China, few products offer milk protein fractions or amino acids for more complex sports nutrition.
"A lot of companies are thinking about this area but just don't know how or when to launch sports products," said Roger Holterman, marketing manager at Pacific Dairy Ingredients.
"But with this focus on sports, the Games will be a good time to launch new products. Making the connection for consumers will be much easier as this is still a new area," he told AP-Foodtechnology.com.
PDI is one of the leading suppliers of whey protein concentrates in China, an ingredient that is almost entirely imported owing to the lack of cheese production in the country.
"There's already a big interest in regular health food in China and that will turn towards sporty health food," added Holterman.
China's rapidly growing urban populations are also starting to recognize the role of exercise for health but the standard Chinese diet is not well suited to sport.
"A traditional breakfast consists entirely of staple foods and is usually lacking in nutritionals like vitamins and minerals," says Holterman.
He admitted that the current high price of whey protein concentrates on the global market will be an entry barrier for some companies. Sports foods are also difficult to market with few specialist retailing channels.
"You don't see nutrition products in specialist sports shops in China and gyms are just starting to develop."
However the success of Gatorade is a good indication of the potential sports nutrition market. The sports drink brand had a 0.7 per cent share of the overall soft drinks market in China in 2003, according to Datamonitor, followed closely by domestic firm Jianlibao's Energy Replenisher.
And functional drinks in general, including nutraceutical products, are seeing good growth, with compound annual average growth of 12.2 per cent between 1998-2003.
Datamonitor expects the segment to reach 755.8 million litres in 2008, up from 508.4 million in 2003.
"This is a good sign that we can already see people turning away from water and tea. Such products also work well in an office environment, providing mental energy," noted Holterman.
According to another market research group, Zenith International, China is set to overtake Japan's consumption of sports drinks by 2010.
