In Thailand, there is a knowledge gap in performance nutrition. Men aged 45+ excel, but educating the younger generation – particularly women – remains an opportunity. Nutritional beverages and meal replacements are driving performance nutrition in this market, with sports drinks growing significantly.
Physical health is key, but many Thais seek cognitive benefits from nutrition products, like memory and focus enhancement. Weight/muscle management and energy support are popular, but boosting competitiveness is vital. Cognitive benefits remain an untapped opportunity.
Most Thais are ‘moderately active’; however, products for all activity levels are crucial to drive wider appeal across the population. Personalised performance nutrition is key for Active Consumers, tailoring to different workout phases and optimising chrono-nutrition.
Demand for natural ingredients opens doors for herbal elements in performance nutrition products. Read the Report for insights on enhancing brand competitiveness through ingredient formulation in performance nutrition.
This report looks at the following areas:
- Consumers’ physical activity levels
- Interest in food & drink that enhances cognitive and physical performance
- Benefits of interest in food & drink for performance enhancement
- Familiarity with ingredients
- Willingness to pay more for ingredients for performance enhancement
- Consumer attitudes towards performance nutrition
Key opportunities lie in dialing up the competitive edge with energy+ benefits, targeted nutrition for Active Thais, and driving naturalness with herbal ingredients.
Rashmika Khanijou, Senior Analyst
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executive summary
- Mintel's perspective
- Key issues covered in this Report
- Overview
- The five-year outlook for cognitive and physical performance nutrition in Thailand
- Achieving optimal mind and body status is the norm for healthy living, with consumers taking on new challenges
- Thais seek holistic solutions that go beyond basic nutrition
- Graph 1: benefits of interest in performance nutrition food and drinks, 2024
- Personalise nutrition offerings to enhance value for Active Consumers
- Influence choice of performance nutrition products among savvy Gen Xers with herbal infusions
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key trends and market factors
- What you need to know
- The adoption of healthy and clean consumption
- For Thais, maintaining good health equates to optimising both the mind and body's condition
- Graph 2: actions taken regularly in the past six months to stay healthy, 2022
- Consumers rationalise the added nutrition in food & drink products
- Global food & drink brands are expanding their focus on promoting health to include mental wellbeing enhancement
- Food processing will be factored into food & drink decisions
- Conversations around 'healthy drinks' surge this year, with an emphasis on 'naturalness'
- New passions on the rise fueling holistic performance needs
- New passions are on the rise, with more spending on leisure and entertainment
- 'Gym', 'fitness' and 'strength training' are rising as popular topics in Thailand
- The rise of 'soft workouts': yoga and pilates' popularity among Thai women will give new meaning to performance nutrition
- Global food & drink brands are targeting soft workout activities and promoting wellness for the mind and body
- Performance nutrition brands are expanding their range to include customised products
- Ageing populations drive needs for senior care and longevity
- Thai consumers are embracing 'ageing'
- Extended lifespan becomes the new focus
- Global food & drink brands across categories are crafting innovations for longevity
- Global VMS brands are tapping into the healthy ageing space, and innovating with ingredients for longevity
- Thai market giants are extending themselves into senior care
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what consumers want and why
- What you need to know
- A gap in the understanding of performance nutrition
- Thai men over 45 understand the value of performance nutrition; space exists to educate the younger generation – especially women
- Graph 3: agreement that the role of food and nutrition is crucial for an individual's overall performance, by gender and age, 2024
- Speak directly to women to widen awareness about the importance of performance nutrition
- Nutritional and meal replacements lead in performance nutrition, with rapid growth in sports drinks
- Graph 4: share of product launches in performance nutrition across food & drink categories, 2021-24
- Energy+ benefits in performance nutrition products
- Thais seek holistic solutions that go beyond basic nutrition
- Graph 5: benefits of interest in performance nutrition food & drink, 2024
- The Thai performance nutrition market has historically been dominated by weight gain and energy support claims
- Graph 6: share of performance nutrition product launches in food & drink, by functional claims, 2021-24
- The synergy of sustained energy and muscle repair advantages will optimise competitiveness
- Energy and muscle support are currently separate in different food & drink categories
- Graph 7: share of performance nutrition product launches with select functional claims, by sub-category, 2021-24
- Maximise competitiveness with products that 'refuel, repair and rebalance'
- Target Gen Xers with muscle recovery benefits in the context of healthy ageing
- Sarcopenia in older people gives rise to a series of new products featuring small-molecule proteins and amino acids
- Tap into the cognitive support white space in the Thai market
- Combine physical and mental energy benefits in one product for maximum appeal
- Extend into the mental energy realm older Thai women; beat the brain fog that comes with age
- Graph 8: interest in select benefits in performance nutrition food & drink, by gender and age, 2024
- Empower women's daily buzz with a versatile product positioning that speaks to 'her'
- Build the feminine healthy ageing scene with 'metabolism regulation' benefits, targeting women aged 35+
- Graph 9: interest in performance nutrition food & drink that regulates metabolism, by gender and age, 2024
- Leverage the inherent metabolism-regulating benefits of avocado for performance nutrition
- Empower young Thai men with endurance, and support older men with sexual vitality
- Graph 10: benefits of interest in performance nutrition food & drink, by age and gender, 2024
- New space in the Thai performance nutrition market: aphrodisiac formulations
- All-in-Ooe energy support: physical, mental and sexual energy
- Targeted nutrition for physically active consumers
- The majority of Thais consider themselves to be 'active'
- Graph 11: physical activity levels, 2024
- Who are the Active Consumers?
- Sustain the market by targeting Active Consumers, and attract others to broaden the consumer base
- Graph 12: interest in buying food & drink to enhance cognitive and physical performance, by active and sedentary consumers, 2024
- From sedentary to highly active consumers: be inclusive in communications to meet different lifestyles and activity levels
- Enhance value for Active Consumers with personalised nutrition offerings
- Graph 13: agreement that food & drink products personalised to individual nutritional requirements are worth paying more for, by active and sedentary consumers, 2024
- Use genetic data to personalise performance nutrition products
- Personalised nutrition offerings can target distinct workout phases
- Graph 14: interest in food & drink specifically formulated for distinct workout phases (eg pre-, post-workout), by Active and Sedentary consumers, 2024
- Tailor to workout phases, intensity and hydration levels
- Personalisation of performance nutrition products can lend a hand towards achieving body status goals
- Opportunity for a range of non-alcoholic beverage categories to play in the performance nutrition space
- Graph 15: non-alcoholic beverages consumed in the past six months, by active consumers and sedentary consumers, 2024
- Juice brands can enter the performance nutrition space targeting pre- and post-workout
- Juice brand enters the kids' performance nutrition space
- Coffee brand may enter the superfood performance nutrition space
- Timing is important: unlock the potential of chrono-nutrition for Active Consumers
- Graph 16: agreement that products designed to be consumed at specific times of day (eg morning, at afternoon) are appealing, by Active and Sedentary consumers, 2024
- Optimise performance with nutrient timing food & drink
- Use naturalness to build upon ingredients' value proposition
- Familiarity with vitamins boosts perceived value in performance nutrition products
- Graph 17: willingness to pay more for functional ingredients in food & drink to enhance cognitive and/or physical performance, 2024
- Graph 18: familiarity with functional ingredients, 2024
- Vitamin/mineral fortification represents a highly competitive space in the Thai performance market
- Graph 19: top 10 claims in performance nutrition food & drink launches, 2021-24
- Build competitiveness of vitamin/mineral fortification with active ingredients and macronutrients
- Use natural ingredients to influence savvy Gen Xers' choice of performance nutrition products
- Graph 20: consumer preference for performance nutrition products featuring natural ingredients over synthetic ones, by generation, 2024
- Push ingredient transparency with minimal ingredient usage to indicate 'clean formulations'
- Plant-based, organic and vegan claims are growing, boosting performance nutrition's natural image
- Graph 21: change in top 20 claims on performance nutrition food & drink launches, 2021-24
- Build a natural image: plant-based innovations contain plant superfoods for optimum performance benefits
- Ingredient claims are dominated by 'natural identical' and 'artificial'; space exists for brands to go 'truly natural'
- Graph 22: share of product launches in performance nutrition food and drinks, by top 10 ingredient claims, 2021-24
- Terms like 'real' can draw consumers' attention
- Incorporate Thai herbs to boost the 'truly natural' value proposition for Gen X
- Graph 23: familiarity with Thai medicinal herbs (eg Centella asiatica, finger root), by generation, 2024
- Graph 24: willingness to pay more for performance nutrition food and drinks with Thai medicinal herbs (eg Centella asiatica, finger root), by generation, 2024
- Incorporate Thai herbs to boost the 'truly natural' value proposition for Gen X
- Build on the potential for Gen X to see higher value in Chinese, Korean and Ayurvedic herbal ingredients
- Graph 25: willingness to pay more for select ingredients in performance nutrition food & drink, by generation, 2024
- Graph 26: familiarity with select ingredients, by generation, 2024
- Combine Thai herbal ingredients with other herbs to showcase optimum performance benefits
- Educate on how Ayurveda can benefit performance
- Introduce and educate on emerging Lion's mane mushroom to amp up cognitive benefits
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appendix
- Consumer research methodology
- TURF analysis
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