Todd Pauli, founder and publisher of Move Nutrition Network, will take the stage at the Sports and Active Nutrition Summit on Feb. 12 to share the survey findings, which highlight the untapped potential of nutrition practitioners.
“The results show there is a wide range of recommendations," he told NutraIngredients-USA. "All three groups of practitioners we looked at are regularly recommending both functional foods and supplements, with gut/digestion and cognitive health appearing near the top of most participants’ recommendations."
The survey also asked practitioners to identify ingredient trends that they are seeing.
"We saw a majority of practitioners interested in cognitive health as an emerging trend," Pauli said. "Digestive/gut health, as well as personalized nutrition, also appeared at the top of the results in terms of trends practitioners were either ‘extremely Interested’ or 'very interested' in."
Practitioner-client privilege
Beyond some of the category trends mentioned, Pauli noted that he thinks it is particularly important for sports and active nutrition brands, as well as ingredient suppliers, to understand the frequency of nutrition conversations and resulting recommendations taking place among practitioners and their clients.
"All three groups are already making sports nutrition recommendations to clients (nutritionists: 73%, dietitians: 61% and trainers: 41%)," Pauli said. "Among the three groups of practitioners studied, the majority of individuals expect their sports nutrition recommendations to grow in the coming years (nutritionists: 67%, trainers: 63% and dietitians: 74%). Combined with the characteristics of these client/practitioner relationships, there is tremendous potential to reach interested consumers through practitioners, since these relationships typically involve credentialed or licensed expertise, client accountability, and frequent one-on-one interactions."
He added that he picked up on two big surprises in the findings: "First, while there were standouts in terms of which categories garnered the most interest both among practitioners and clients asking questions about active nutrition, I was surprised to see how many health categories are regularly discussed within these relationships. It was more comprehensive than I expected and I think that presents opportunities for brands no matter what area of sports and active nutrition they are involved in.
"Secondly, speaking of brand and ingredient supplier approaches to this market, I was surprised by where practitioners are not turning for information about sports and active nutrition. I’ll leave this reveal for the presentation itself, but I’ll say the results illuminate a few distinct paths to marketing sports and active nutrition ingredients to practitioners and their clients."
When asked about his participation in the upcoming Sports & Active Nutrition Summit, Pauli said he hopes attendees will walk away with:
- A clear understanding of the importance (and resulting market opportunity) of the conversations happening between sports and active nutrition practitioners and their clients.
- Knowledge of nutrition interests and trends seen by people working with consumers every day. There is an important feedback loop inherent in these relationships both in terms of gauging what ingredient and brand messaging is getting through and what trends are driving future research and commerce initiatives.
- A roadmap for reaching this important market. Combining the findings about sports and active nutrition trends, client interactions, and the sources practitioners turn to for nutrition information, it is possible to see specific marketing strategies emerge to influence both practitioner recommendations and consumer purchasing.
Move Nutrition’s survey results will be shared for the first time on Feb. 12 at SANS, and the full research report will be available to attendees and the public as part of the Move Nutrition Quarterly available the next day. Readers can subscribe to the Quarterly at movenutritionnetwork.
Time to Move–the Sports & Active Nutrition Summit is almost here!
After the Move Nutrition founder shares the survey results at the Sports & Active Nutrition Summit next month in San Diego, he will participate in a panel that looks at the state of the market. Pauli will join Laurie Demeritt, owner and CEO, The Hartman Group; Scott Dicker, director of market insights, SPINS; and Kenneth Huntly, VP of merchandising, sports nutrition, GNC Live Well, to discuss ways to succeed in the highly competitive sports nutrition category.