HOW PROTEIN POWDER GOT
PUMPED UPOnce the preserve of bodybuilders, sports nutrition supplements, shakes and
bars have gone mainstream, with brands muscling in on the action. But do these
products really deliver on their promises, asks JACK TORRANCE
O
n a sweaty June afternoon up a flight of metal stairs in
Bethnal Green, East London, a subculture is hard at
work. A few dozen men (there are no women allowed
here) grunt and groan as they repeatedly heave huge
chunks of metal into the air, all in the pursuit of the perfect
physique. Founded by former professional bodybuilder
Savvas Kyriacou in the 80s, Muscleworks gym has produced
several British champions.
Industrial fans, large enough to keep a plane in the air, stop
taut, aching bodies from overheating. The hard work is all
about image rather than fitness – tucked away in a corner
downstairs, the gym’s few cardio machines lie unused. The
walls are lined with mirrors so the bodybuilders can admire
their handiwork. Above those are hundreds of snaps of buff
guys, including Kyriacou and Arnold Schwarzenegger back
in his pumping iron days, flexing and posing. Inspiration for
the determined congregation below.
But weight training is just one part of the bodybuilder life-
style. At one end of the gym is a shop, stocked with all
manner of substances to help its members pack on muscle.
There are giant tubs of protein powder and smaller pots of
less familiar products with names like Tribulus Terrestris
and Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs). Some of the
branding is especially aggressive – Ripped Freak and Animal
Nitro don’t exactly sound like varieties of baby food.
Gym-goers have been taking ‘supps’ like these (and in
some cases illegal steroids) for many decades, but over the last
few years the market has bulked up massively. Sales of sports
nutrition products through mainstream retailers soared by
27% between 2013 and 2015, according to the research com-
pany Mintel. The total market size is estimated at £330m.
This surge in popularity has made a lot of cash for a group
of successful entrepreneurs. Since the mid-noughties, we’ve
seen several new British brands including Myprotein,
48 | Issue 3 2017
Grenade and Bulk Powders go from nothing to turnovers
in the tens of millions. All three featured in The Sunday
Times Fast Track 100, an annual list of the nation’s fastest-
growing businesses.
One regular user of supplements is Jonathan Giannasi, a
City lawyer who spends much of his free time honing his
six-pack and competing in muscle model competitions. It
may not be his day job, but keeping in shape requires
strict discipline.
‘I do count my macros – what protein, fats and carbs I
have every day,’ he says. ‘I know what I’m having in every
meal, how much calorie intake, but that’s because it’s
become so ingrained into my lifestyle. If you took that away
I would find it quite hard to cope and make normal food
choices.’ He hits the gym five times a week, and on those
days consumes two protein shakes – one before and one
after exercise. He also uses BCAAs, a specialised form of
protein powder, carbohydrate powder and a pre-workout
supplement to keep his energy levels up.
The lifestyle gets even more intense in the run-up to
competitions. ‘You’re going to put 100 million per cent
❝
People are
effort into making sure you’re looking your best in 16
weeks, because the worst thing is to say I should or could
have done this or that,’ he says. ‘The majority of the prep is
looking restricting what you eat, there’s no getting around that. If
you’re not willing to put that in then you’re not going to be
for a magic able to compete.’
bullet. People who take their training as seriously as Giannasi
They want does are of course an important market for supplement
manufacturers – and indeed he has managed to secure
cover model sponsorship from a few, including BioTechUSA. But the
bodies explosive growth thus far (and the real potential for future
Getty Images
growth) has been down to the ‘mainstream-isation’ of sup-
❞ plements, and protein products in particular.
managementtoday.com
 MUSCLE MONEY

Charles Atlas pioneered

O BE❝A SE V EN STONE
I USED T
G
bodybuilding with his

L IN
training manuals and
nutrition plans in the 1920s

WE A K
❞

Once confined to health-food stores and the same dusty

shelves in Boots as SlimFast’s dreary meal replacements,
protein powders, bars and shakes are now a common sight in
Britain’s biggest supermarkets. As of last July, 24% of con-
sumers had used a sports nutrition product in the prior three
months, according to the Mintel data, rising to a whopping
42% among adults under 25. It’s not as if these products are
cheap – a typical shake or bar will set you back more than £2,
though powdered shakes tend to work out a lot less.
Grenade founders Alan and Juliet Barratt came up with
their brand while working as nutritional consultants for the
military. Their products come packed in eye-catching plas-
tic grenades and ammunition crates, and have names like
Black Ops, Thermo Detonator and .50 Calibre. ‘We didn’t
want to stick it in a white tub and put it on the shelf with
everything else, most of which you couldn’t pronounce the
name of,’ says Alan Barratt. Launched in 2010, the brand
turned over £17m in the UK last year, and was valued at
£72m when private equity firm Lion Capital bought a
majority stake back in March.
Barratt credits their growth partly to their decision to
target consumers who wouldn’t previously have taken an
interest in sports products. ‘We not only had an edgy brand
that appealed to lots of people, but also we put products in
locations, which everybody else thought were inconceiva-
ble. The supermarkets were one thing but we’ve gone over
and above them… we supply petrol stations and conveni-
ence stores.’
Grenade’s snacks have proven particularly popular, a
healthy alternative to carb-heavy crisps or chocolate bars.
‘We sell tens of millions of units of drinks and bars per year,
all over the world - we can’t make them fast enough.’
Bulk Powders was originally a ‘hardcore’ brand, says its
CEO and co-founder Adam Rossiter, but now it also

managementtoday.com Issue 3 2017 | 49

MUSCLE MONEY

PACKED POWDER
WHAT’S IN A
SUPPLEMENT?
WHEY PROTEIN
The most popular
type of protein
pursues the ‘larger segment of the market – the three to four powder, this is a Rugby and Everton Football Club. ‘Everybody wants to be
times per week gym-goer, who isn’t necessarily associated by-product of cheese fitter, healthier, people want cover model bodies – boys and
with any particular sport. Their goal is building muscle, los- production. It’s best girls – and we’ve been led to believe that’s how it’s achieved.’
ing fat and having an athletic physique.’ Now the company consumed after a But there are concerns that people are taking risks in
workout, when it is
employs 125 people and will turn over £35m this year. pursuit of the perfect bod. Last month, Close told the BBC
supposed to aid in
Part of the market’s growth is thanks to the increase in the growth and he thought the marketing of some products is ‘wrong and
female consumers. Despite its macho branding, Barratt says repair of immoral’, and that some people were using them as meal
that 49% of Grenade’s customers are women. ‘All our com- muscle tissue. ‘substitutes instead of supplements’ – something he
petitors just do it at half the size and make it pink. That’s strongly advises against. ‘What we’re talking about is just
what you get if you have a corporate person developing a CASEIN filtered milk – it’s not something magical that’s going to
range. We don’t patronise women, we make the best product Another protein transform your body.’
and it works.’ derived from milk, In theory it’s possible to achieve the same results just
casein makes you
There’s also plenty of mileage in catering to alternative through eating a certain diet, but apparently it’s all about
feel full and takes
diets. Bulk Powders does gluten- and lactose-free protein longer to digest convenience. ‘If you can do it all through food, brilliant,’
powders, as well as more natural ‘paleo’ protein made from than whey, so it’s says Barratt. ‘But most people can’t because of the conveni-
beef, eggs and greens like spirulina. Upstart Neat Nutrition, often consumed ence. If I told you to eat six chicken breasts every day, you’d
founded by former GB swimmers Charlie Turner and Lee before bed. just be miserable.’
Forster, sells hipster-friendly vegan protein powder made ‘You might finish a training session and it might be more
from pea and hemp – it comes in the sort of brown paper bag BCAAS convenient to grab a shake, but if you’d prefer to go and eat,
you’d expect to find a batch of high-end coffee beans in. Branched chain then that’s going to be better – it’s certainly not going to be
The success of these specialist companies hasn’t gone amino acids – worse,’ adds Close (after wolfing down a four-egg omelette
leucine, isoleucine
unnoticed in the wider food market. Now most FMCG and valine – are the for lunch).
companies are rushing to bring out their own high-protein most important You could be forgiven for wondering if we’re in danger of
products – or at least to emphasise the protein content of elements of protein eating too much protein, especially now it’s available in such
their existing range. Fancy a more protein-heavy start to for muscle growth. highly concentrated doses. But Close says he’s seen little evi-
your day but can’t be bothered to whip up some eggs? But they may also dence excessive protein can have adverse effects on your
Weetabix Protein contains more than 50% more of the good play a part in the health. That said, it could be bad for your wallet, as the body
disease pathways of
stuff than its normal variety. Earlier this year, Innocent is only capable of synthesising so much protein at a time.
type 2 diabetes.
Drinks launched two new smoothies, each packed with 8g of ‘What some people might do is have a big feed and wash it
soya-based protein. Just last month Graze, the snack box down with a protein shake,’ he says. ‘Now that is pointless –
CREATINE
subscription company, launched a new range of oat-based This helps then you really are just creating expensive urine.’
protein bites. ‘This market is a key area for Graze and we’re bodybuilders and Explosive stuff:
looking forward to innovating further in this space and see- athletes exercise for Grenade’s macho,
ing where we can go with the new line,’ said its chief brand longer and with military branding
officer Sarah Fuller. greater intensity by
Is there a danger that the likes of Unilever and P&G could boosting energy.
come along and eat Grenade’s and Bulk Powders’ (high-
protein) lunch? ‘I don’t think so,’ says Rossiter. ‘Lucozade BETA ALANINE
tried to do it and failed miserably. Huge brands can't just Another amino acid,
come along and take the core sports nutrition market just this stimulates the
production of
because they are a large brand.’
carnosine, which
Barratt suggests Mars’s decision to launch high-protein acts as a buffer
varieties of its Mars and Snickers bars has helped, not hin- against muscle
dered Grenade. ‘It’s attracted so many more people to the fatigue – that ‘lactic
market, and ours are a lot better… people buy a Mars bar acid’ feeling when
first if they’re new to the category, but they don’t buy another you exercise.
one – they come and buy one of ours.’ Side-effects include
paresthesia, a
So why are high-protein products so en vogue nowadays?
tingling sensation.
‘People are looking for a magic bullet,’ suggests Graeme
Close, professor of human physiology at Liverpool John
Moores University and a nutrition consultant to England

50 | Issue 3 2017 managementtoday.com

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