The latest issue of Food & Drink Technology should be with you by now, the front cover of which serves as an indication of not one, but two themes in the issue: beverages and functional ingredients.

The October issue got me thinking about sports nutrition; it is true that such products have become more widely available and are increasingly marketed at a broader audience – protein shakes and sports bars are no longer restricted to body builders and serious athletes. This can be attributed to the relationship between diet and disease, which has been propelled into the limelight in recent years in the hope of changing consumer lifestyle habits – and it seems to be working; with consumers paying more attention to their dietary habits and opting for beneficial foods and drinks which promise solutions to their nutritional challenges, sales of products which specify health claims are booming. In addition, with people living longer and desiring a high quality of life throughout that time, the health and wellness market shows no sign of abating. Indeed, the global functional food market was worth around $175 billion last year and is expected to grow at an annual rate of 15 per cent, meaning functional food sales will exceed $230 billion by 2015.

A combination of diet and exercise has long been championed as the mainstay for a healthy lifestyle. One functional food which taps into this trend is sports nutrition. Generally consisting of products formulated with natural ingredients, such as milk or egg proteins and fibres; sugars or vegetable starches; vitamins; and minerals, products are designed for and used by those undertaking exercise and wishing to improve their nutritional intake in terms of both health and performance.

When you consider the rapidly increasing sales in the functional foods market coupled with large profit margins (products retail at around 30 to 50 per cent more than similar conventional foods), it is no wonder this sector is particularly attractive to food and pharmaceutical companies alike. I will be attending Hi Europe in Amsterdam in December with more than 500 health and wellness suppliers to learn more about this thriving market.