Although sports and protein drink companies primarily market to athletes and active consumers, the category’s consumer base is shifting. In fact, the number of high-volume sports drink users, or consumers who drink eight or more sports drinks a month, has been declining in recent years, offset by more casual sports drink users joining the consumer ranks, according to Rockville, Md.-based Packaged Facts’ February 2015 report “Functional Foods: Key Trends by Product Categories and Benefits.”
Now, approximately 34 percent of all surveyed consumers and nearly half of surveyed consumers aged 18-24 drink sports drinks when they are not working out, according to Beth Bloom, food and drink analyst at Mintel. “Such usage indicates the value of product positioning that moves beyond a sports focus and highlights attributes such as hydration and flavor,” she wrote in the Chicago-based market research firm’s January 2015 “Nutritional and Performance Drinks” report.