The functional beverage market is unstoppable. Set to reach $240bn by 2031 according to Mordor Intelligence – a rise of 45% in five years – the thirst for drinks that do more than hydrate is showing no signs of being quenched.
Within this growing market sits one functional ingredient yet to take centre stage – creatine.
Having been used for three decades by body builders and athletes to bolster performance and support muscle growth, creatine has come into focus more recently for claims it may also improve cognitive function and support healthy ageing.
But what exactly is creatine? And how does it fit into the functional space?
Creatine is a compound made of amino acids that our bodies make naturally, says UK dietician and nutritionist Dr Sarah Schenker.
“It’s a crucial part of our energy production system,” she explains. “We get energy from fat and carbohydrates, but when we need instant energy it come from the phosphocreatine system.”
Creatine converts to phosphocreatine to rapidly regenerate adenosine triphosphate (ATP) which is what is needed to support moments of - what Schenker calls - ‘explosive energy’.
“If you’re a power lifter or a sprinter you’d need more instant – or explosive - energy than someone like me who at the most picks up a heavy bag of shopping. That’s why creatine supplements have been popular with sportspeople.”
Indeed, while creatine monohydrate - in powder and capsule format - has been available as a supplement for gym-goers for years, its presence in the burgeoning functional beverage space has been limited.
The main reason creatine hasn’t shared the same space as other functional ingredients like electrolytes, vitamins and minerals and adaptogens such as ginseng and ashwagandha in beverages, isn’t lack of demand, it’s formulation. Creatine monohydrate degrades quickly when added to liquid.
Creatine beverage NPD
“Stability in liquid form remains the key technical hurdle,” explains Devanshi Tyagi, a product development scientist at Schwabe Group, where she is working on the development of a creatine-based drink.
Details of the product being developed by the company that owns Nature’s Way and Integrative Therapeutics are being kept under wraps, but Tyagi knows it must be launched soon to capitalise on growing demand.
“Ready-to-drink creatine is gaining traction as consumers prioritise convenience alongside performance,” she says, adding that the audience is expanding beyond traditional gym-goers and into those wanting to support everyday wellness.
Schwabe Group certainly needs to get a move on, because other brands claim to have found a workaround to the degradation issue and already have ready-to-drink creatine out in the market.
KSI and Logan Paul’s functional drinks brand PRIME is one of them. It launched PRIME Protein Shake + Creatine in three flavours – Chocolate, Vanilla and Cookies and Cream - in the US at the end of March, although the product is currently unavailable on its website.
The product contains 32g of protein and 3g of creatine monohydrate which PRIME protects from degradation with what it calls the CreaShield system.
Another functional drinks brand whipping up frenzied excitement within the space is Joyburst. In April, founder Brad Woodgate announced plans to launch Joyburst Creatine Soda – a sugar-free carbonated drink containing 2g creatine per 355ml can in three flavours - Icy Pop, Cotton Candy and Fuzzy Peach.
Writing on LinkedIn, Woodgate said the brand had managed to ‘crack stable creatine in a carbonated beverage’ by using ‘CreaJoy technology’. Such is the interest, the brand claims more than 15m cans had been ordered before launch with US retailers including CostCo, Aldi and Sam’s Club already lining up to sell the drinks.
Another brand already selling well and struggling to keep up on the supply-side due to demand, is KA-EX, which launched its RTD creatine product - KA-EX Creatine EAA+Booster in April.
How much creatine is going into drinks?
However, unlike others, the Swiss brand’s solution to the degradation issue is keeping the creatine out of liquid until it’s ready to be consumed. Its patented VICAP push-cap holds 3g of Creapure creatine that is dispensed into the liquid in the bottle below when activated.
“Creatine does not sit well in liquid,” says KA-EX founder and CEO Pedro Schmidt. “Similar to creatine gummies, where a recent study showed that many products no longer contained meaningful creatine because it had degraded during manufacturing, conventional creatine RTDs face the same fundamental problem. Creatine can lose efficacy within days in liquid, long before the product reaches the consumer.”
Schmidt has a point. The future success of conventional creatine RTDs hinges on each brand’s new technology keeping levels of creatine stable over time. Sports nutrition brand Bio-Synergy tried it out in the 2000s with Bio-Synergy Sub Zero, a drink containing 2g creatine monohydrate, glutamine and green tea. However, the line was discontinued when Bio-Synergy discovered that the creatine level had degraded after six months.
Functional nutrition company Bulletproof doesn’t need to worry about the degradation issue. Its Coffee + Creatine, launched in the US in March, claims to be ‘the first-of-its-kind instant coffee’ which combines Arabica coffee beans with 5g creatine monohydrate per serving and 250mg electrolytes. The instant powder can be added to cold or hot water.
“We saw an opportunity to bring credible science into a daily ritual people already love - creating something that supports both mental clarity and physical strength, without asking consumers to change their routine,” said Bulletproof CEO Harry Lewis at its launch.
But even if creatine doesn’t degrade, the amount in some RTD products may not be enough to make an impact as the standard recommended dose is 3-5g a day.
Nutritionist Dr Schenker also questions creatine’s efficacy, particularly around recent claims that creatine supplementation can support cognitive function. While many clinical studies have looked at creatine’s ability to enhance muscle strength and muscle recovery, research into other benefits remains limited.
“Even back when scientists were looking at creatine in relation to explosive energy, the evidence wasn’t overwhelming. There was certainly some there, but it wasn’t unequivocal,” she says. “And now it’s the same thing with cognitive function. Yes, it’s an interesting space to watch, but the evidence isn’t there yet.”
Schmidt believes the market is in ‘a critical education phase’, and sees potential for RTD creatine if new studies can prove it is beneficial to the brain and brands can prove their effectiveness.
“Creatine is no longer seen as only a muscle performance ingredient. It is increasingly entering the cognitive performance space, in a similar direction as caffeine, especially as research explores higher-dose protocols such as 20g per day.”