SPINS’ Scott Dicker on Creatine Trends, GLP-1, and the Next Ingredients to Watch

Scott Dicker, Senior Director of Market Insights at SPINS, returns to grade his 2023 complement pattern predictions and share contemporary information on creatine, hydration, and GLP-1s on Episode #224 of the PricePlow Podcast.

0:00 – Introductions

Ben welcomes again Scott Dicker, Senior Director of Market Insights at SPINS, for his second look on the present following his Episode #082 go to in February 2023. Scott jokes that he cannot consider three years have handed because the two final caught up on digital camera.

For newer listeners, Scott refreshes what SPINS does: a retail information and analytics platform masking all the pieces from snacks and drinks to dietary supplements and sweetness. By layering product intelligence onto point-of-sale information, SPINS tracks who’s profitable, who’s shedding, and the place pricing and demand are heading throughout the CPG panorama. Scott leads thought management at SPINS, and he is wanting to see the place his three-year-old predictions held up.

2:00 – Grading the Creatine Name Three Years Later

Ben provides Scott credit score for one thing he is joked about for years: Scott’s insistence that creatine was “the pattern”, lengthy earlier than it turned the {industry}’s greatest development story. Scott admits it is the decision he will get referenced for greater than another, and he is blissful to take the flowers.

He additionally displays on the non-public facet of it, joking about his 16-year-old self shopping for his first tub of creatine at a mall GNC, by no means anticipating to nonetheless be speaking about the identical ingredient 20 years later. Scott calls himself fortunate that his core space of experience become the ingredient driving your entire {industry} ahead.

3:30 – Sports activities Diet because the Testing Floor for Mainstream Developments

Ben lays out a concept he is held for some time: sports activities and lively vitamin operate because the proving floor for components that later go mainstream. Protein adopted this path, and creatine is following it now.

Scott agrees, explaining that buyers assume what works for elite athletes will work for them too. He traces the identical sample throughout a number of components: creatine’s newer use case is cognitive well being reasonably than muscle constructing, protein has shifted from bulking to muscle preservation throughout weight reduction, hydration moved from endurance athletes to hangover aid to on a regular basis use, and beetroot went from a vasodilator for athletes to a mainstream cardiovascular well being ingredient.

8:00 – Hydration Shifts From Prepared-to-Drink to Prepared-to-Combine

Scott notes that the 2023 dialog occurred proper across the rise of Prime, which quickly supercharged the hydration class. Since then, ready-to-drink hydration drinks have largely flattened into modest single-digit development, whereas ready-to-mix hydration dietary supplements stored accelerating. Scott cites 24% year-over-year development in that class, with unit development over 20%, that means the beneficial properties aren’t simply coming from increased costs.

Codecs are additionally getting extra inventive, with manufacturers positioning hydration alongside immunity or protein reasonably than as a standalone use case. Scott factors to an uncommon ingredient shift inside hydration too: zero sugar is driving all the expansion, but increased sodium content material can also be performing effectively, flipping salt from a vilified ingredient right into a sought-after useful one.

11:15 – Vitality Drinks Proceed Consuming Into Pre-Exercise Events

Scott confirms one among his 2023 calls held up: power drinks preserve taking pre-workout events. Utilizing mixed Pure, MULO, comfort, and Amazon channel information, he stories pre-workout powders up 3.5% whereas power drinks are up round 12%.

Ben shares an anecdote from Ghost’s CEO about strolling into elite gyms and seeing professional bodybuilders attain for a canned power drink over a bath of pre-workout, even realizing it probably prices them some efficiency. The explanations: carbonation, comfort, and no shaker bottle to scrub. Scott provides that C4’s unique ready-to-drink launched non-carbonated earlier than the model discovered an even bigger viewers by leaning into the normal carbonated format, and he calls out L-theanine as one of many class’s extra sudden profitable components.

16:30 – Purple Bull Nonetheless Reigns, However the Notion Recreation Has Modified

Scott Dicker of SPINS joins the PricePlow Podcast to speak complement {industry} developments!

The dialog shifts to what an power drink selection indicators in regards to the particular person ingesting it. Scott jokes that displaying up with a Purple Bull reads as “tough evening,” whereas a Ghost or Celsius reads as health-conscious, though Purple Bull stays the top-selling power drink model as we speak, precisely as Scott predicted again in 2023 regardless of Celsius buying Alani within the years since.

Scott additionally flags a broader, considerably counterintuitive pattern: premium merchandise are thriving throughout the grocery retailer regardless of financial stress on shoppers. He compares it to buying and selling a $7 espresso store latte for a $4 power drink, framing premium purchases as a justified, smaller-scale indulgence reasonably than a splurge.

19:30 – Premium Pricing Reshapes the Creatine Class

Scott previews unreleased information from SPINS’ upcoming Market Watch pricing sequence, noting that creatine SKUs priced a minimum of 50% above the class common, which SPINS calls “ultra-premium,” are driving a disproportionate share of class development. That is notable as a result of creatine, not like collagen or ashwagandha, has by no means had one dominant model credited with taking it mainstream.

As a substitute, manufacturers are differentiating by mixture merchandise like creatine plus HMB or creatine plus collagen, together with premium sourcing claims similar to German-made creatine on the label. Scott provides a quantity he needs to double verify earlier than publishing: roughly 25% of your entire creatine market now comes from merchandise launched inside the previous yr, an indication of simply how a lot new entry and turnover the class is seeing.

22:45 – Creatine Gummies Go From Novelty to Mainstream

Scott says creatine gummies had been practically nonexistent in 2023, with perhaps one or two manufacturers experimenting. Three years later, they’re all over the place at commerce reveals. Ben recounts PricePlow’s personal function in that shift: he and Mike helped push the unique third-party testing that discovered many early gummies didn’t ship their labeled creatine dose, a narrative PricePlow first coated in Creatine Gummy FAIL: 46% of Manufacturers Failed NOW Meals’ Testing. That testing later fed into a category motion lawsuit and pushed manufacturing ahead industry-wide, with impartial YouTubers and Instagram creators now operating their very own follow-up exams.

25:45 – Higher Codecs Win: Smooth Chews and the Push for Stability

NOW Meals has printed a brand new spherical of third-party lab testing, discovering that solely 46% of creatine gummies examined handed lab exams for creatine.

Ben shares a household proof level: as of some days earlier than recording, each of his dad and mom began taking creatine for the primary time, due to Vitamin Shoppe’s mushy chews. His dad and mom would not combine a gritty powder, however a tasty chewable they might go away on the counter lastly caught. Ben additionally recollects a previous collaboration with Glanbia at Provide Facet on a tea-based creatine drink, the place the label claimed 1,500mg of creatine per serving, however the precise dose ran nearer to 7,500mg to ensure stability by the complete shelf life. Mike provides that he and Ben nudged NOW Meals to publish its unique check information, which he believes moved your entire gummy class ahead by a yr or two.

27:15 – Supply Codecs and the Rise of “Permissible Indulgence”

Scott frames most of this shift round one query manufacturers have to reply: what is the supply automobile? Whether or not it is a beverage, a tablet, a powder, or a cookie, shoppers are more and more selecting convenience-first codecs, and Gen Z particularly has proven little persistence for mixing powders in any respect.

That choice connects to what Scott calls “permissible indulgence,” the place a useful ingredient provides shoppers a purpose to be ok with a deal with. A cookie turns into acceptable as soon as it has added protein, and soda turns into extra acceptable as soon as it has prebiotic fiber. The indulgence itself would not change, however the framing does.

30:45 – L-Theanine and the Hunt for Stim-Free Alternate options

Mike asks Scott a pointed dosing query: ought to a tea-based beverage preserve a modest, roughly 50mg dose of L-theanine though most opponents already embrace it? Scott declines to provide a one-size-fits-all advice, pointing to what he calls a graveyard of manufacturers that assumed merely including a stylish ingredient, like protein just a few years again, would assure success by itself.

The dialog shifts to caffeine consciousness. Ben means that typical shoppers probably devour as a lot caffeine as {industry} insiders with out realizing it, largely as a result of espresso store drinks do not disclose actual milligram counts. Scott says he tracks his personal every day caffeine consumption exactly as a result of his sources, not like espresso, listing actual quantities.

37:30 – Kava, Caffeine Modulation, and the New Wave of Session Drinks

Scott sees early development in non-stimulant pre-workouts and caffeine options like paraxanthine, although he is clear that caffeine-free merchandise won’t ever totally match the true factor. The extra attention-grabbing shift is youthful shoppers ingesting much less alcohol and gravitating towards different mood-altering classes, together with THC drinks and calming, non-alcoholic drinks, following a sample just like non-alcoholic beer.

Mike recollects Bang’s 2018 caffeine-free launch, which flopped regardless of tasting positive, just because the market wasn’t prepared. Scott flags kava drinks making a comeback too, alongside a broader pattern of manufacturers modulating caffeine doses past the long-standing 200mg normal. Ben notes that Ghost Vitality initially stood out with a decrease 200mg dose, and newer entrants like BUM Vitality have pushed even decrease, touchdown at 112mg with 250mg of Cognizin citicoline.

42:45 – Why “Pure Flavors” on the Label Is not Sufficient Anymore

Mike brings up a dialog from Episode #179 with Sensapure Flavors’ Tyrus Sciarra, the place Tyrus famous that some manufacturers and shoppers not need to see the generic time period “pure flavors” in any respect, preferring the precise fruit or ingredient named on the label. Scott confirms the sentiment reveals up in SPINS’ personal analysis.

He cites SPINS’ Subsequent Gen Shopper Research, which discovered that 90% of Gen Z and Millennial respondents stated they actively keep away from sure components, with sweeteners as the highest concern in sweet and drinks. Scott notes a spot between acknowledged choice and precise buying habits, however says that hole nonetheless leaves a gap for manufacturers that may shut it with better-tasting, genuinely cleaner formulation.

48:15 – GLP-1s Reshape Weight Administration and Create New Companion Classes

Weight administration dietary supplements had been already declining 3% to six% yearly earlier than GLP-1 medication arrived, and the class has since settled right into a decrease base, nonetheless down round 5.5% in models. Scott factors to berberine because the clearest beneficiary amongst pure competitor merchandise, noting it retains hitting new gross sales peaks, although he is cautious to not name it “nature’s Ozempic” with out a caveat given how completely different the mechanisms are.

The larger alternative is in companion merchandise supporting individuals already on GLP-1 medicines, led by protein to assist protect muscle. SPINS’ Subsequent Gen Shopper Research discovered excessive protein is now the commonest eating regimen Gen Z and Millennials report following, and plenty of name it medically crucial given GLP-1 use, making the behavior much more prone to stick.

52:15 – Lively Way of life Meets Pure and Natural: A Shopper Venn Diagram

Tyrus Sciarra, Sensapure Flavors’ high-energy gross sales knowledgeable, breaks down taste science, {industry} developments, and the pure vs. synthetic debate on Episode #179 of the PricePlow Podcast, recorded at IFT First 2025.

Scott describes one of many {industry}’s greatest shifts as “preference-based consumption,” pushed by shoppers who observe their very own sleep, steps, and blood work by wearables and regulate their complement stacks in close to actual time. He additionally cites survey information displaying that buyers at pure grocery shops are extra probably to make use of GLP-1 medicines than the final inhabitants, a counterintuitive discovering provided that viewers’s standard skepticism of prescribed drugs.

That overlap displays a wider convergence between lively way of life shoppers and pure and natural buyers, two teams that after dismissed one another’s strategy to well being. Scott provides that this holistic mindset has fueled the rise of med spas, which more and more supply GLP-1s, different peptide therapies, and hormone assist alongside extra conventional wellness companies.

59:15 – Cognizin, Well being Span, and Successful the AI Search Period

Scott says well being span, reasonably than simply lifespan, now shapes how shoppers strategy practically each class, and cognitive assist is a transparent instance. He notes that curiosity in staying mentally sharp used to skew towards older shoppers avoiding “senior moments,” however has since expanded to youthful shoppers chasing on a regular basis focus.

Scott closes the phase on a unique form of discovery drawback: manufacturers more and more want to indicate up in AI chatbot solutions, not simply search engines like google, since extra buyers now ask AI instantly for product suggestions earlier than ever visiting a retailer. As Scott places it, manufacturers now need to promote the algorithms in addition to the consumers.

1:01:45 – Horseshoe Concept: How Area of interest Developments Discover the Mainstream

Mike introduces horseshoe concept because it applies to vitamin: shopper teams that appear to take a seat at reverse ends of the spectrum, like strict natural-foods buyers and extra libertarian-leaning shoppers, generally land on the very same place, similar to wanting fewer restrictions on uncooked milk entry.

That convergence reveals up on retailer cabinets too. Mike factors out that manufacturers now sit comfortably inside Complete Meals and Sprouts that merely would not have existed in these aisles a decade in the past. Scott provides that The Vitamin Shoppe was forward of this shift, having supplied GLP-1 and TRT telehealth companies years earlier than mainstream retailers adopted, and notes that even Lifetime Health now gives pharmaceutical companies on-site.

1:04:45 – Precision Fermentation’s Lengthy Recreation for Various Proteins

Laura Katz and Pamela Besada-Lombana take us inside Helaina’s Manhattan R&D facility to disclose the precision fermentation science, medical breakthroughs, and empathy-driven tradition behind effera® lactoferrin on Episode #197 of the PricePlow Podcast.

With whey protein costs climbing as a consequence of surging demand, Mike and Ben level to precision fermentation as a promising long-term stress valve. Good Day will get an early point out alongside NNB Diet’s work within the area (see Episode #192), and the dialog turns to Helaina, the corporate behind human-identical lactoferrin, whose development story PricePlow coated in Episode #197.

Scott agrees precision fermentation probably arrived just a few years too early, just like early precision-fermented dairy ice cream that by no means took off. With whey prices rising and manufacturing scaling up, he sees an even bigger opening now. Ben provides a wrinkle value watching: as GLP-1 use reduces cheese consumption, the whey provide that comes as a cheese byproduct might tighten too, very similar to creatine’s personal origin as an industrial byproduct.

1:11:15 – Ice Cream and the Problem of Refrigerated Snacking

Mike calls the ice cream aisle one of many hardest classes to compete in, with dozens of latest entrants and little endurance past a handful of established names. Scott agrees, evaluating it to the broader problem going through contemporary and refrigerated snacking, the place manufacturers need to persuade retailers to dedicate scarce chilly cupboard space to a brand new merchandise. He factors to Halo Prime’s earlier protein ice cream wave and a more recent cottage cheese-based model as the newest try and make the format stick, although value nonetheless wants to return down.

1:13:30 – Are Practical Components Welcome in Snacks?

Mike mentions MOSH’s new Excessive Protein Bar launch at Goal, which pairs creatine with Cognizin citicoline, then recollects a commerce present dialog at a Kyowa Hakko sales space (Episode #118) the place Match Butters’ Ryan Bucki argued that buyers do not truly need useful components of their snacks. Scott gives a nuanced take: protein and fiber already succeed as useful additions, however components tied to a particular feeling, like a “enjoyable” bar, have to ship rapidly. Customers will not wait 90 days for a snack to work the best way they may for a capsule.

1:16:00 – Is Fiber the New Protein?

Scott fields two of his commonest questions again to again. First: have we hit peak protein? Not but, he says, pointing to continued development in protein powder alongside inherently high-protein meals like yogurt, eggs, and cottage cheese. Second: is fiber the brand new protein? Additionally no, since fiber has a sensible ceiling that protein would not, however that does not imply the class has topped out.

A protein bar constructed on your mind as a lot as your muscular tissues? MOSH Excessive Protein is now at Goal with creatine, Lion’s Mane, KSM-66 ashwagandha, and 125mg Cognizin® citicoline alongside 20g protein.

Scott credit trendy sodas with fiber’s mainstream rebrand as prebiotics, which opened the door for fiber to turn into a viable beverage ingredient in classes the place it hardly ever appeared earlier than. The following problem for manufacturers, he says, is differentiating a particular fiber supply the best way protein manufacturers differentiate between whey, plant, and collagen sources.

1:19:30 – Scott’s Playbook for Recognizing the Subsequent Mainstream Ingredient

Scott’s recommendation for recognizing the subsequent huge ingredient is constant: search for a longtime ingredient discovering a brand new demographic or well being focus reasonably than betting on one thing fully novel, the identical path ashwagandha, creatine, and magnesium every adopted. On that foundation, he factors to magnesium for temper assist as nonetheless having room to run, and zinc for hormone assist, noting that AI instruments requested about pure testosterone assist are inclined to advocate zinc, magnesium, and vitamin D first.

He additionally calls out single-mushroom positioning, particularly lion’s mane, as extra promising than generic mushroom blends, plus a “second wave” of other proteins and calming useful drinks as classes value watching subsequent.

1:25:15 – Why Cognizin Grew to become the Mannequin for Ingredient Partnerships

Ben nominates Cognizin citicoline as an ingredient that is already made the leap, crediting its success to greater than good timing with the mind well being pattern. Kyowa Hakko backs the ingredient with sufficient acute and long-term information that manufacturers can promise shoppers they will discover one thing, with out leaning on disease-style claims to do it.

Ben additionally credit Kyowa Hakko’s willingness to collaborate on versatile, lighter doses, pointing to BUM Vitality’s 250mg serving for instance of a model utilizing Cognizin while not having a heavy-handed dose. Scott agrees, including that citicoline is a uncommon case of an ingredient already backed by a model making actual inroads with it.

1:27:30 – The ZMA Comeback and Mike’s Mineral Preferences

Scott flags a modest however actual comeback for ZMA blends, a choose he made for 2025 that is since had a strong yr, pushed by the identical zinc and magnesium momentum mentioned earlier, even when it is nonetheless a small slice of the general mineral class. Mike shares his personal workforce potassium and zinc picolinate preferences, together with a longstanding wariness of the high-dose vitamin B6 present in conventional ZMA formulation, joking that the mineral advantages are nonetheless value it so long as it isn’t megadosed.

1:29:15 – Wrap-Up and The place to Discover Scott and SPINS

Mike and Ben wrap up by thanking Scott for one more wide-ranging dialog and pointing listeners towards SPINS for anybody within the {industry} who needs deeper information entry. Scott says SPINS works with manufacturers, retailers, and ingredient suppliers alike, and factors listeners to his LinkedIn as one of the simplest ways to attach.

Earlier than signing off, Scott shares his upcoming commerce present schedule, together with IFT in Chicago, NBJ, Provide Facet, and Newtopia. Mike and Ben each say they’re trying ahead to catching up with him on the reveals, and hope it will not take one other three years earlier than Scott’s again on the podcast.