The marriage of science and ethical, focused marketing can lead the sports nutrition market out of the dark shadows cast by spooky pre-workout products whose labels feature laundry lists of ingredients supposedly derived from rarely-mentioned botanicals, experts say.

In recent discussions with NutraIngredients-USA, formulation experts in the sports nutrition sphere said a new center of the market is forming, and its coming together around a commitment to safety and to demonstrable benefits.

Start with the research. Im an evidence-based practitioner. There has got to be some evidence. The idea that twelve athletes have used this and it makes them feel great may be a great place to start. But it isnt any way to start a business and develop a product and tell people that it works, said Susan Kleiner, PhD, an author and consultant within the sports nutrition sphere. Kleiner consults with multi-level marketing firm USANA on its sports nutrition lines.

I think that its kind of a two way street. I think that the public expects honesty from manufacturers. But it requires that the manufacturers also lead and do the research to show that there is actually some evidence behind their products, she said.

Recent launches typify trend

Two recent entrants in the sports nutrition sphere typify this trend toward the middle. In mid-September, Idaho-based Thorne Research announced a new line of sports nutrition products , followed a week or so later by the launch announcement of Klean Athlete, a line of sports products from Douglas Labs . Not coincidentally, both of these manufacturers have long histories in the health practitioner side of the dietary supplement business.

We wanted to create a line of products that are not so much operating at the fringe of sports nutrition, Tim Monk, senior vice president of marketing for Douglas told NutraIngredients-USA.

We wanted the parents to feel good that if their son comes home from football practice and has a can of the Klean isolate that they are taking whey protein and there is nothing else in that product.

Real world science

In addition to a commitment to purity and safety, Kleiner said, manufacturers need to cleave to science that drives toward real world benefits, rather that seeking to clear statistical significance hurdles that are too arcane for the middle-of-the-market consumer to care about. Kleiner said having experts with real world experience on board can help manufacturers achieve this goal.

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Sports nutrition experts point way toward provable benefits