Mengniu launched the sports nutrition brand M-Action (Mai Sheng, 迈胜) two years ago in February 2023.
It has so far developed pre-, during, post-workout nutritional products for active lifestyle seekers as well as professional sportsmen.
There are now plans to expand the range by addressing gaps in sports nutrition related needs, said Zhong Jinbiao, person-in-charge of Mengniu sports nutrition business R&D and packaging centre.
“We are developing new products to meet the market gaps in products related to sports nutrition,” he spoke with NutraIngredients-Asia after his presentation at Healthplex Expo 2025 held in Shanghai on June 24 to 26.
He was speaking on the topic of “R&D of scientifically-backed sports nutrition products and innovations in product packaging”.
Some of these areas that Mengniu is exploring include bone and joint health and anti-oxidation products.
Sports nutrition is an area of interest for Mengniu as part of the company’s new strategy of “One Core Two Wings” outlined during the company’s FY24 financial results presentation in March this year.
“We now have the ‘One Core Two Wings’ strategy in which nutrition and health – including sports nutrition – is one of the wings,” Zhong said.
M-ACTION has so far launched products across liquid protein, aerobics nutrition, and protein bars.
The products are sold on direct-to-consumer channels such as Tmall, Douyin, JD, WeChat private domain, and have entered Sam’s Club after the Spring festival this year to reach the mass consumers.
The brand is also said to have achieved “over threefold sales growth” in the first half of FY24 as compared to the same period in the year before.
The sports nutrition sector is growing due to several factors, including increased interest in active lifestyle and a growing number of marathons.
In China, there were about 100 marathons taking place every weekend in April and May this year, Zhong said.
To support its R&D of sports nutrition products, Mengniu also set up the NanKai University M-Action Joint Laboratory of Nutrition Research in May 2023.
Catering to different consumer groups
Generally, users of sports nutrition can be categorised into four groups: the professional athlete, the sports geek, the sports hobbyist, and the active lifestyle seeker.
As each of these groups has different sets of exercise regime, there is therefore a need to design different sports nutrition for them.
The largest group of the four – the active lifestyle seekers – for instance, consists of individuals who mainly exercise as a form of socialisation or for general wellness.
In this case, improving their physical condition, immune system, bone and joints, and their energy levels would be more important.
When developing sports nutrition for this group of consumers, the focus is therefore on producing tasty and healthy products, said Zhong.
This is in contrast to the sports hobbyists, as they may have specific workout goals and would prioritise clean label, low fat and low carbs products.
Clinically-proven products would also appeal to them, said Zhong.
To cater to both daily and sports nutrition needs, the brand has for example, launched a blueberry flavoured high protein milk shake containing 10g of protein and six grams of dietary fibre per bottle weighing 245g.
The product also contains other functional ingredients such as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) to support metabolism and fat burning.
Mulberry leaf extract and white kidney bean extract are also added to reduce the absorption of glucose and block the absorption of carbohydrates.
For people engaging in high intensity sports, the brand also launched beetroot juice, energy gel, and electrolytes concentrate.
Beetroot juice, for example, is designed to improve endurance sports performance and the maximum amount of oxygen (VO₂ Max) that the body can use during exercise.
Its energy gel and electrolytes concentrate, on the other hand, are made into small packets to facilitate ease of use during marathons.
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