The gyms are reopening, the possibility of outdoor sports activities and even outdoor team activities is resumed, and competitions for amateurs are also returning. And with the blocks linked to Covid relegated (for the moment) to the book of memories, the market for sports supplements. Not that in truth the Italians had stopped training within the walls of their own home even at the time of the hardest lockdown, but the repercussions on this particular sector of food supplementation had nevertheless been important.
The figures of the recovery
The most recent data processed by Iqvia per Federsalus instead confirm the rebirth: in the period between July 2020 and June 2021 the market of food supplements for sportsmen totaled in Italy a value of 70.6 million euros, up 11.8% compared to the previous 12 months, corresponding to 23.3 million packages sold (+ 22%). The figures are part of the entire food supplement chain, which at the end of 2020 in Italy it was worth 3.8 billion e almost 30% of the European market, but they are unable to capture the full turnover of sports-related products. These are in fact widely sold, as well as in pharmacies, parapharmacies and large distribution, also in sports shops, in those expressly dedicated to this genre and above all through the web channel.
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The Enervit “case”
However, they draw a very specific trend, which is also reflected in the most recent financial statements published by Enervit , one of the leaders in sports nutrition. In the first half of 2021, the Zelbio group did not only return to profit (2.6 million against the loss of 2.1 million accused in the first half of 2020 branded by lockdowns), but above all it has turned the clock back to the times before the pandemic, given that in the first half of 2019 the amount of profits of the group it had stopped at 1.2 million.
Objective: new consumers, even non-sportsmen
Among other things, the passage of the virus has ended up changing consumer habits, offering further positive developments for the industry. “We feel a growing awareness of nutrition and integration, as well as the correct exercise of sports, for the functional role they play in maintaining health and well-being and in reducing disease risk factors” , points out Alberto Sorbini, president of Enervit, which identifies the most promising segment in protein bars, even at a European level: “They are products also intended for those who do not necessarily have sporting goals – he adds – because they are also well suited to new lifestyle concepts” . Focus on interested customers, expanding the audience when possible: the development of post-Covid sports integration basically passes from here.