That’s according to Colin Watts, CEO of Thorne, speaking to NutraIngredients+ during its recent Business Leaders Forum. Watts revealed that 60% of the company’s users are under the age of 40.
“It used to be that you track the boomers, and it was just basically like servicing the boomers with supplements,” he said. “Now it’s Gen Z and millennials that are powering this brand, but frankly, powering, I think, a lot of the industry in general.
“The line is deeply blurred between what we have historically called sports nutrition and what we also have talked about as wellness or prevention. I think it is now a conversation about performance.”
The top growth category for dietary supplements
Market insights firm SPINS already tracks sports and active nutrition products under the umbrella “performance nutrition”, and data from the Chicago-based company showed that performance nutrition experienced 22% dollar growth over the 52 weeks ending Nov. 30, 2025. That is significantly higher than the growth for the overall dietary supplements category, which has historically recorded 6% to 7% year-on-year increases.
Scott Dicker, senior director of market insights at SPINS, revealed last year at the UNPA Member Retreat in Asheville, NC, that performance nutrition has moved beyond gym culture, reaching wellness-focused shoppers, casual athletes, hikers and anyone seeking an everyday edge.
“Today’s products support energy, recovery, mood and endurance for active daily living,” Dicker told attendees.
Thorne’s Watts concurred that the performance market is not just sports, and it is certainly not just for professional athletes.
“It’s the everyday consumer,” he said. “It involves energy, recovery, cognition, strength, resilience.”
Creatine in focus
Watts noted that creatine has grown to become one of Thorne’s largest single ingredients within its platform. Increasingly, the ingredient is attracting new consumers for its cognitive health benefits, support for lean muscle mass and to entergy-boosting properties—rather than for its traditional association with muscle building.
“We believe very strongly that it’s an example of what has historically been niched as a sports nutrition that actually is a performance product,” he said.
Creatine grew by a whopping 77% in dollar value over the 52 weeks ending Nov. 30, 2025, according to SPINS, with almost half of creatine buyers repeating their purchases, indicating a strong level of satisfaction.
But creatine is not alone in experiencing eye-watering growth metrics. Hydration and electrolyte products recorded the largest year-on-year growth within the performance nutrition category, rising just over 29% in the 52 weeks ending Nov. 30, 2025 to reach US$2.2 billion.
Pre-workouts, a subcategory that is firmly rooted in the gym culture and that experienced several years of shrinkage that started during the COVID-19 pandemic, has recently shown signs of renewed growth, with sales increasing 5% over the 52 weeks ending Nov. 30, 2025.
This is supported by data from a Lumina Intelligence survey of 6,000 people across nine countries. For U.S. consumers (n=2,000), protein was the dominant form for sports supplements: 17% reported consuming protein bars, 12% reported consuming protein powders, and 11% reported consuming protein snacks.
The next most popular product category was hydration and electrolyte products (8%), followed by energy shots/supplements (7%), pre-workouts (6%) and creatine (6%).
A lifespan of goals
Consumer goals for taking these products differed over the lifespan, with younger consumers (35 and under) citing muscle growth, repair and strength among their desired benefits, while endurance and energy rise to the top for people over 55.
Jim Emme, CEO of NOW, described sports nutrition as a large Venn diagram of overlapping circles that encompasses performance but also longevity as a concept that is resonating with younger demographics.
“Longevity is still a hot topic, it’s a hot topic with Gen Z and millennials, not just with geezers like me,” he said during the Business Leaders Forum. “There’s a lot to be learned because they have curiosity, but they also have access to so much information—and more so than what the average person who’s older will even be curious about, but they have access to a lot of bum information too, […] so that opens the door for us to bring clarity and correction to information that just may be completely misleading.”
