Consumers have had to give up a lot during the COVID-19 pandemic, ranging from the minor to the life-altering. Many have made significant sacrifices, like health- and job-related losses as well as losing the rhythm and dependability of on-site school for their children. Most sacrificed their social lives, travel plans, and time with extended family and friends when stay-at-home orders became the new normal. But Americans are losing something else that isn’t making the same headlines: sleep.

According to the Washington Post, “coronasomnia” is a common complaint in the U.S., as the impacts of the pandemic heighten stress, upset peoples’ routines and keep them up at night. With poor sleep and heightened stress levels rampant, it’s no surprise that Americans are also short on energy.

“People are highly stressed, can’t sleep at night and have brain fog all due to the COVID pandemic, and they’re looking for relief in the form of supplements or functional foods and beverages,” said Karen Todd, vice president of marketing at Kyowa Hakko USA. In fact, the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) found that usage of green tea and energy drinks grew 13% each during the pandemic, confirming an increased desire for energy products of all kinds.

“The ‘new normal’ for consumers during the pandemic has created heightened demand for natural energy boosters that help them navigate their daily routines,” said Sebastien Bornet, vice president of global sales and marketing for Horphag Research. “Many families are struggling to balance their workload with their parenting duties as children continue virtual learning, and this prolonged stress is leading to fatigue, unrefreshing sleep and burnout.” And, the market is already reflecting this shift.

According to Mintel’s latest Energy Drinks report, published May 2020, combined energy drink and energy shot sales now surpass $14 billion, and sales are projected to reach $20 billion by 2024. When it comes to supplements marketed for energy, SPINS data indicated sales have held steady in the 52 weeks ending Jan. 24, 2021, with the most growth posted in amino acids (up 5.3%), performance nutrition (up 6.6%), and the vitamins and minerals category (up 8.7%).

Energy Grows Up
While energy drinks have a dedicated consumer base, it’s a moderate one. Mintel said habitual energy drink users represent less than half of U.S. consumers and, among non-users, the category suffers from a less-than-positive reputation. According to the market researcher, many consumers perceive the category to be too sugary, too artificial, contain too much caffeine, and offer a poor taste profile.

In order to sustain growth for the long term, post-pandemic and beyond, brands and formulators in the energy space must be prepared to offer consumers the types of energy drinks they need once they return to their everyday lives. This includes a cleaner ingredients panel, great taste, and a closer-to-nature formulation. The good news is that the market is already taking strides to appeal to a wider and varied consumer base.

“Over the last decade, we have seen energy drinks evolve a lot,” explained Brian Zapp, creative director at Applied Food Sciences. “They went from loud, extreme energy drinks to more natural, better-for-you energy. But over the last few years, we noticed a new category developing called premium, high-performance energy drinks, and it is growing at a rate the energy category hasn’t seen in decades.”  This new class of energy drinks is marked by premium packaging and specialty ingredients with added functional benefits.

Driving this trend is the fact that the energy drink consumer has also undergone a shift of their own. According to Zapp, millennials (the target consumer base for energy drinks) have matured from students to parents and executives. “True to their more ‘adult’ lifestyles, their energy drinks must mature as well,” he said. “I rarely see a mom slugging a Monster at the school dropoff line. Likewise, you wouldn’t expect to see an executive sipping on a tallboy Rockstar at a meeting. Certain pieces just don’t fit together anymore.”

In addition to a maturing consumer base with different needs, cleaner trends in energy drinks have also stemmed from a consumer shift to healthier options overall. The impacts of the pandemic are also at play here, which have put the importance of maintaining one’s health with better-for-you ingredients into sharp focus.

But cleaner ingredients are just the beginning. Premium energy brands are also improving their delivery systems with textured cans for better grip and resealable tops for extended use, said Zapp. “These characteristics add significant costs but are also key indicators that say a lot about this category,” he added. “Today’s energy consumers are attracted to more premium, high-level products. Therefore, ingredients that you target must align with that expectation.”

Ingredient Trends
If you ask Elyse Lovett, vice president of marketing at Nutrition21, the line between the energy category and adjacent categories is blurring, as formulations increasingly also include benefits for immune health, sports nutrition, cognitive health, and the emerging e-sports or gaming category. Indeed, consumers who play video games for long periods of time and need products that work fast are increasingly influencing the energy category.

“Gamers are meticulous for tracking, so understanding how ingredients work and how brands can help their win-win attitude will be ever so important for this group,” Lovett said. Plus, for this consumer, energy supplements that also keep the mind sharp will resonate.

Nutrition21 is meeting this demand with nooLVL, a patented, non-stimulant ingredient that’s comprised of a bonded arginine silicate complex and an optimized dose of inositol, “designed for and studied in a population of gamers to target benefits that are most important to the e-sports industry,” Lovett said. The ingredient acts fast—working in just 15 minutes—and delivers perceived energy increases without negatively affecting heart rate or blood pressure.

Gamers are also top of mind at Applied Food Sciences. While the company is known for its organic caffeine brands PurCaf (from organic green coffee) and PurTea (from organic green tea), the impacts of its AmaTea organic guayusa extract, which offers caffeine and antioxidants, are being studied on gamers specifically, in partnership with the University of Memphis College of Health Sciences.

The study, currently underway, aims to measure the effects of AmaTea on various measures of cognitive performance, mood, motivation and overall gaming achievement. “In the double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover, the investigators hypothesize that both AmaTea and the caffeine anhydrous (control) will improve outcome measures more than placebo, with more considerable improvement noted for AmaTea due to the particularly complex antioxidant makeup,” Zapp said.

Gamers might be the consumer du jour, but the underlying takeaway is that energy brands must appeal to consumers’ unique energy needs and experiences, said Steve Fink, vice president of marketing at PLT Health Solutions. “With traditional energy ingredients like caffeine, consumers want an experience that matches their need instead of the ‘cup of coffee’ experience,” he explained. “The energy requirements of a person just waking up, studying late at night, or running a 10K race are all different.”

To meet the needs of various consumers, PLT Health Solutions offers a line of zumXR targeted release caffeine ingredients, including extended release, delayed release, and liquid stable extended release versions. The technology allows formulators to design their own custom energy profiles and deliver “predictable performance” to the consumer, Fink said.

In the extended release format, specifically, the ingredient has been formulated to deliver no more than 55% of the total caffeine at one hour and no less than 80% at two hours. The liquid stable format is based on this model but is delivered in a non-pH dependent, lipid-based coating.

Hand-in-hand with the trend for personalized energy supplements is a trend toward products that offer multiple benefits in one. “Consumers are looking for an expanded range of benefits from their energy products,” said Francesca de Rensis, marketing director at Indena S.p.A. “They may be looking for improvement in mental performance, more convenience through food or drink options, or more personalized solutions to meet a specific need.”

Indena’s Quercefit Quercetin Phytosome is targeted for athletes and has recently been studied for its effects on endurance, performance, recovery times, and oxidative stress. “The energy products of the future will provide multiple benefits other than just energy,” said de Rensis. “These may include mental performance, athletic performance, recovery or immune restoration.”

At Kyowa Hakko, Todd said a main focus in 2021 is to bring in ingredients that can work together with its Cognizin Citicoline (for mental energy) and its VELOX or Setria Performance Blends, to support energy on a variety of fronts. “Consumers are looking for products that can help support and maintain their overall health, and that support a variety of stresses coming from the pandemic, from heart health to sleep support,” she said. “Many are looking for products with more than a simple benefit, but instead with dual or triple action benefits. And they’re willing to pay the price for added convenience.” Options include using stimulants or non-stimulants, finding a short- or long-lasting ingredient, and providing dual action benefits to offer increased convenience.

Non-caffeine (or “non-stim”) ingredients appeal to a certain set of consumers, and ingredient suppliers are poised to deliver. “Reasons for this run from the intolerance of caffeine and health concerns to social and cultural preferences,” said Fink. “This question is similar to asking why gluten-free is important. For some people, the use of caffeine is not possible because of how they react to it. Others are concerned about health issues that have been associated with caffeine. Finally, the jitters and crash that have been associated with caffeine are considered undesirable by some consumers. Non-stim mental energy avoids these issues for those who are looking for another option.”

Zynamite from PLT Health Solutions is a patented, proprietary Mangifera indica extract standardized to over 60% mangiferin, developed from sustainably harvested mango leaves. According to Fink, the ingredient has a portfolio of safety data and has been the subject of three pre-clinical and six clinical studies.

“The primary area of application is in cognitive health products where it provides mental energy,” he said, since the role of Zynamite in mental energy is thought to be modulated through its ability to selectively inhibit an enzyme responsible for the inactivation of dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine. “In addition, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of mangiferin are also thought to play a role in its benefits related to mental energy,” Fink added.

At Horphag Research, Robuvit French oak wood extract is a caffeine-free solution for boosting energy, reducing fatigue, and improving physical and mental performance, said Bornet. It’s been the subject of more than 20 clinical studies, the latest of which explored the ingredient’s mechanism of action. This article, published January 2021, described how Robuvit rejuvenates mitochondria (which generate energy in the body in the form of ATP) and ribosomes, improving energy and muscle protein synthesis and decreasing oxidative stress (Journal of Medicinal Food).

“As we age, mitochondria may become less efficient, which leads to reduced energy and lower physical and mental performance,” said Bornet. “Research shows that Urolithin A—one of Robuvit’s metabolites—is a mitophagy activator.” This is important because mitophagy is a process by which mitochondria are rejuvenated. 

ATP is also the focus at TSI Group Ltd., which offers PEAK ATP to benefit exercise performance and recovery from exercise. “We just published a study in the Journal of Functional Foods (March 2021) which provides a critical assessment of PEAK ATP’s bioavailability and its various health benefits,” said company president Larry Kolb.

Specifically, researchers found that ATP disodium supplementation demonstrated improved bioavailability as well as acute and chronic benefits for cardiovascular health, muscular performance, body composition and recovery, while attenuating muscle breakdown and fatigue.

At Bioenergy Life Science, Inc. (BLS), the company’s RiaGev is an ingredient found in a private study to increase NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) efficiently throughout the body including in the muscles and in the brain. According to the company, NAD plays a key role in cellular metabolism and energy production. The ingredient is appropriate for energy but also healthy aging formulas.

The Future is Bright
Looking ahead, Fink believes the energy consumer will only become more savvy and discerning in terms of what they want from their supplement experiences. Brands that find success in this new landscape will see this as an opportunity, not a hurdle.

“Understanding more about that experience and delivering it in differentiated products will help the segment grow, say into weight management and sports nutrition, but also enhance market share in a competitive space,” he said.

Other categories where synergy is possible include immune health and cognitive health, said Lovett, as well as digestion, according to Kolb.

Zapp sees potential for energy products to also cater to focus, concentration, eye health (to combat screen time), improved reflexes, and enhanced memory recall. “The ingredients that support this type of energy product go way beyond your average cup of coffee,” he said, and will likely include a blend of ingredients.

Discerning consumers may also increasingly seek organic and natural energy ingredients, Kolb noted. “This gives consumers peace of mind when they can resolve their nutritional deficiencies and maintain high energy levels for their day-to-day activities.”

Todd thinks the future of the energy segment will see a shift into multiple sub-segments to appeal to different consumers and their varying needs.

But what everyone agrees on is that this category, in many ways, is just getting started. “Look at how far the market has come already and, in my opinion, the future looks even brighter for this unique market,” said Marianne McDonagh, vice president of sales at BLS. “We can look forward to some innovative products on the market that utilize branded ingredients designed to work and backed by science. The me-too products will be few and far between.”  

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Melissa Kvidahl Reilly is a freelance writer. She can reached at mkvidahl@gmail.com.