Pre-workout category emerging as a destination category for mass retailers

OVIEDO, Fla. - The pre-workout category is beginning to emerge as a viable destination center within mass outlets, Nutrex Research reported recently. At the National Associaton of Chain Drug Stores Total Store Expo last month, Nutrex showcased its OutLift pre-workout supplement, available in a blackberry lemonade flavor.

Pre-workout supplement regimens are not just for gym rats, anymore, Billy Amicarelle, VP Nutrex Research, told Drug Store News on the TSE show floor. "Gym rats are marketing influencers," Amircarelle explained. "[They] start the trends. With social media, internet, the forums and all the top websites around the world ... it's what influences younger athletes," he said. "[But] it's crossing over. The transition from specialty to the food/drug/mass side of the business used to be two or three years, now you have 12 months, sometimes even six months depending upon how popular the product is on the specialty side before it becomes big in mass."

And Amicarelle noted there are several pre-requisites responsible marketers are meeting in order to succeed beyond specialty supplement locations and in retail pharmacy outlets. That includes easy-to-read, fully-disclosed labels, no artificial colors or dyes and banned-substance tested. Fully-disclosed labels are important, Amicarelle noted, because it means the formulation of the product isn't hiding within some proprietary combination ingredient.

Amicarelle also observed he's seeing more innovative thought processes on the buying side across mass when it comes to progressive nutrition sets, with a greater emphasis on ready-to-drink shakes, nutrition bars and pre-workout powders. Today's fitness-focused consumer is emphasizing healthy lifestyle choices, including diet and exercise, as opposed to quick-fix diet aid pills, Amicarelle added. "You're seeing those categories expand because consumers are looking for more from the [sports nutrition] set," he said.

Suggested retail price for 10 servings of Nutrex OutLift is $26.99.