Functional food goes organic: Huge market potential in bars and shakes

Sales revenues of organic foods in Europe continue to rise. In addition to traditional drivers like the dry foods category, which includes cereals, trend categories like protein bars and shakes are also growing. “The growing demand for organic products is becoming more and more obvious in health and fitness-related categories,” reports Marc van Essen, Sales Director at SternLife. “So we offer a large part of our range in organic versions as well. From vegan protein bars and protein shakes to breakfast and fitness shakes to smoothie powders, we provide high-quality functional food made with organically grown raw materials, with a difference you can taste.”

SternLife is one of the leading suppliers of functional lifestyle and sports nutrition products. From an extensive range of organic raw materials, the company also develops exclusive organic product lines for major brands. The raw materials can be from animal or plant sources as desired. For example, protein sources can be pea, rice, hemp, sunflower and pumpkin, or milk and whey. “Continuous consumer and market research is fundamental to the successful development of our product concepts. We have a very good knowledge of which organic raw materials are in demand at any given time,” notes SternLife Product Manager Lüder Holsten, adding, “That means we can always implement the latest product trends for our customers.” The proper combination of raw materials is at least as important in order to achieve high bioavailability and thus high product functionality. SternLife developers and technologists examine these aspects very carefully in applications testing.

With regard to the organic market, functional bars are of special interest.  Few organic offerings exist, and demand is rising rapidly. SternLife has therefore developed a wide selection of exciting concepts for the entire range of bars, from Pure to Deluxe. Whether chocolate coated or uncoated, with sprinkled bits or filling, whether vegan or conventional, SternLife has many possibilities for individual product lines with protein content up to 30 % (vegan) or more (conventional).

In the powder category, customers can have SternLife create custom organic shakes for different target groups and occasions, working from a wide portfolio of raw materials. Powders can be conventional or vegan; the vegan powders can contain up to 60 % protein while meeting all sensory requirements. In additional to raw materials from organic agriculture, SternLife naturally also offers UTZ and RSPO-certified raw materials, combined individually to customer order.