A market called "hope"

Whether it’s  fitter or faster, tanned and toned or long and lean, the business of sports nutrition and weight loss companies is hope. In matters of happiness, romance and career, we’re not so far removed from the veldt—it may not be survival of the  fittest, but the fittest still have the better shot at just about everything. Leaner, faster, bigger and stronger become aspirations of the most urgent kind. We are told we live longer if we live leaner. Striving for beauty, and the implied youth that comes with an athletic build, is stitched into every fold in our cultural DNA.

But sports nutrition and weight loss aren’t selling hope just to consumers. Manufacturers and ingredient suppliers also sell hope to the industry at large.  ese are the categories of growth, perhaps not the stellar growth of 2013 and earlier, but growth that looks solid in a supplement market rocked by negative headlines and a crisis in consumer trust. Indeed, in some corners of these star categories, trust isn’t even an issue.  e gym junkies have always had an appetite for the illicit edge.

Weight and faster/bigger/stronger are matters of faith, tinged with desperation, and where there is faith, hope, and desperation, there is money to be made.  at doesn’t mean easy money. Knowing where and how that money can be made is essential, even in a market where the pickings would seem easy. Business intelligence may be more vital in growing markets than in mature sectors; more important where the waters are turbulent than where they run still. It’s certainly more vital in markets where innovation is a primary driver.

NBJ isn’t selling hope, but we are selling smarts.  e NBJ Sports Nutrition and Weight Loss Report is packed with the data and insider perspective that help company CEOs and product developers divine opportunity in a market tightly tied to trend.
More than a stack of charts and insights, the NBJ Sports Nutrition and Weight Loss Report is a tool.

In business, everything is a matter of perspective. No other categories get more negative headlines and regulator attention than sports nutrition and weight loss, but categories rocked by scandal also o er opportunity in the turmoil. NBJ o ers exclusive access to the latest views from thought leaders and pivotal players in the space. We’re hearing about anxiety in the executive suites, but we’re also seeing a coalition working to keep the markets more stable.

Sports nutrition can be more stable, a source of steady and reliable sales growth, insiders believe, but that is just one part of the hope that sports nutrition and weight loss o er the nutrition industry as a whole.  e markets are already big, but the less-explored demographics o er exponential opportunity. We all know that overly exuberant pitchman on the late-night infomercial isn’t selling those ab rollers to the  at-stomached beautiful people.  e love-handled hordes want solutions too. Expand sports nutrition beyond the sports  fields and rubber-matted weight rooms, and the number of people who want more results from their workouts explodes.


This is where sports nutrition and weight loss truly intersect.  e makers of sports recovery drinks know the uber lean runners at the 10K  finish line are still looking to trim a few ounces while they take seconds o their times. People who want to  ex in the weight room mirror know that getting lean is just as important as getting big. And people who just want to look good at the beach know that being thin and being  t are two elements in the same equation.

All of that is hope. All of that is aspiration.
All of that is something you can sell.

Want more of this data?  Check out the most recent report from Nutrition Business Journal.  The 2015 Sports Nutrition and Weight Loss Report is now available!