Continued Popularity of Nutrition Bars

Protein bars are a sector of the nutrition market that is expanding fast, with an ever-growing number of products on sale.

In the UK, 27% of people consumed a sports nutrition product in 2017.

Of these products, the top three were protein bars (11%), protein powders (10%) and energy bars (9%). (Source: Mintel).

This trend for growth is reflected globally, with a 17% increase in product launches of sports nutrition bars in 2017 compared to 2013. With the trend only set to increase in the coming years, now is the perfect time for new product development.

What is causing this growth?

A large part can be put down to the increasingly mainstream perception of these kinds of sports nutrition products. Consumers are looking to make better informed, healthier decisions in all aspects of their lives and are finding that products traditionally aimed at sports nutrition fulfill this need. They are more aware of what they are consuming, choosing products with specific ingredients and advantages, whether that is high protein, vegan, natural or other functional benefits.

Flavour innovation

As the market expands, manufacturers are looking for innovative ingredients to help their products stand out. Flavourings play a key role – they mask the bitter flavours of some functional ingredients whilst producing an end product that tastes amazing.

Prototype protein bars

TasteTech has over 25 years of experience creating flavourings for the food industry. Our dedicated team of flavourists and food technologists work closely with our customer’s R&D departments. We have developed a strong range of flavourings and microencapsulated ingredients that are specifically designed to meet the formulation challenges of nutrition bars.

To support continuous innovation our technologists have developed some prototypes to showcase our products in equivalent market-ready applications. These prototypes represent just a fraction of the flavours we have available for bars and includes: