Sixty years after inventing sports drinks, Gatorade is making a surprising shift: It’s no longer focused primarily on athletes.
PepsiCo, Gatorade’s parent company, said Thursday that the brand wants to expand its reach to non-athletes looking for ways to hydrate, whether they’re on a long flight, going for a walk or recovering from alcohol. The new packaging highlights the specific ways Gatorade’s different drinks and powders work and the research behind them.
This change reflects the growing interest of American consumers in beverages containing… Perceived health benefits. Jack Doggett, a food and beverage analyst at consulting firm Mintel, said his research indicates that 60% of consumers who buy sports drinks are not athletes but want the functional ingredients those drinks provide, such as Electrolytes For hydration and carbohydrates for energy.
“People are using these drinks more for health and daily maintenance,” Doggett said. “It’s easy to say the healthiest consumer is the young consumer, but older generations are also drinking these beverages for hydration.”
Unit sales of sports drink mixes, such as powders from Liquid IV, Skratch Labs and Gatorade, rose nearly 20% in the year ended March 22, according to market research firm Circana. Bottled water sales were flat in the same period.
Sensing the growth potential, new sports and hydration brands are crowding store shelves. Mike Del Pozo, President of US Beverages At PepsiCoHe said 150 new brands have entered the space in the past few years.
“This puts a lot of risk on this group and puts a strain on it from a credibility perspective,” del Pozo said. “Some of the people coming in are relying on the science we’ve created. We’re like, ‘Well, gosh, we should do that.’ “We have to talk more openly about science, business, and why we think we’re looking to the future.”
Del Pozo said Gatorade will now clearly label products it says can hydrate better or faster than water. A new drink, Gatorade Longer Lasting, which will go on sale next year, combines glycerin with electrolytes to help the body stay hydrated longer than with water alone.
PepsiCo’s approach to Gatorade mirrors moves made by some of its competitors. Powerade, a sports drink owned by Coca-Cola, is getting brighter, clearer packaging in 2023 that promotes increased electrolytes. Last fall, Powerade began selling Power Water, a sugar-free, electrolyte-boosted drink aimed at non-athletes.
Liquid IV, which was founded as a sports drink mixer in 2012, has been acquired by Unilever in 2020 and reshaped itself into a wellness and hydration brand. The LMNT also had non-athletes in mind last fall when it introduced a smaller, 12-ounce version of its sparkling electrolyte drink.
Sean Harapko, Ernst Beverage Sector Leader & Consumers have so many beverage choices that companies must clearly identify their products and explain why people should choose one over the other, Young Americas said. He said Americans are trying to live healthier lives, but they gather information from many different sources and define for themselves what that looks like.
Gatorade was born in 1965, when the University of Florida football coach asked Dr. Robert Kidd, a physician and professor at the school, why his players lost so much weight during games but didn’t urinate. Kidd realized that the players were secreting electrolytes — another word for minerals like sodium, potassium and magnesium — and upsetting the body’s chemical balance.
Kidd created Gatorade, a drink that contains salt to replace electrolytes, sugar to improve energy, and lemon juice for flavor. Quaker Oats acquired Gatorade’s parent company in 1983 and created the Gatorade Sports Science Institute two years later. PepsiCo became the owner of Gatorade when it bought Quaker Oats in 2000.
Del Pozo said Gatorade will continue to meet the needs of athletes. For example, Gatorade Thirst Quencher contains 48 grams of sugar and 18% of the recommended daily amount of carbohydrates, which athletes need to maintain energy. But del Pozo points out that Gatorade Low Sugar, which went on sale last month and contains 75% less sugar, is one of the company’s biggest sellers in recent history.
Del Pozo said the low-sugar versions target non-athletes, as well Removal of artificial colors From the Gatorade lineup, it works to attract customers to the brand.
“I think there are people who have said, ‘I haven’t exercised or I haven’t been out in the heat or I don’t sweat.’ The truth is that everyone is sweaty and dehydrated from the moment they wake up, and many don’t even know it.”
But the average non-athlete gets the sodium he needs from his diet, said Travis Masterson, an assistant professor at Penn State University’s College of Health and Human Development. He said athletes sometimes need reminders to drink, because their bodies are under stress. But for ordinary people, the thirst signal is a good indicator.
“100% Gatorade has its place, but will it be a must-have for everyone? Do you need to hydrate faster or longer?” He said. “The average person doesn’t need all the extra stuff.”