The Role of Functional Ingredients
Functional ingredients play a crucial role meeting energy management needs, especially in products like protein bars, beverages, and supplements. For an immediate boost, caffeine or natural caffeine sources, such as green tea extract, green coffee extract, guarana, and yerba mate, are popular choices, while caffeine-free options like creatine monohydrate are gaining traction.
For energy products positioned for sustained energy by optimizing overall health and functioning, nutrients essential to the body’s energy production or management, such as B vitamins, iron, and protein, are top choices. The right combination of functional ingredients can support sustained energy, recovery, and overall wellbeing, making these products particularly valuable for active, health-conscious consumers.
Challenges and Opportunities for Product Development
One of the key R&D challenges in delivering product innovation that meets consumers’ needs and preferences is achieving the right balance between taste and functionality. Consumer research shows that, for energy drinks and protein bars, consumers actually prioritize taste over healthfulness of the product.5
NutraShield® Microencapulations offer a solution to creating great-tasting functional products. By encapsulating functional ingredients (including caffeine, vitamins, minerals, and botanicals) that may taste bitter, metallic, or grassy, undesirable flavors can be masked, which improves product taste and allows for higher ingredient usage rates.
Microencapsulated ingredients can be added directly or blended into a custom premix solution with other energy supporting ingredients to streamline purchasing, production, and warehousing. These ingredient technologies open the door to developing delicious energy products with a much wider range of effective functional ingredients and at higher levels, if needed for optimal function.