Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
THG upgrades earnings on Myprotein strength, BelliWelli lands Walmart endcaps, Barebells launches low-sugar candy, and recovery supplement claims face new scrutiny.
Myprotein is lifting THG's entire earnings outlook, BelliWelli is taking gut health to Walmart at scale, and new research is putting recovery supplement claims under the microscope — three category-defining moves marketers need to understand today.
In this episode:
The Health Marketing Daily is a concise briefing for marketers and founders in supplements, functional food and consumer health, hosted by Marco & Klara. New episode every day.
Enjoying the show? A quick rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify helps other marketers find us.
Also from Marco & Klara: The FMCG Marketing Daily · The Digital Commerce Daily
The daily briefing for professionals in health, nutrition, and wellness marketing. Every episode covers an ingredient of the day, the latest science and regulatory updates from EFSA and beyond, and the brand and market moves shaping the nutraceutical industry. Hosted by Klara and Marco — evidence-based, no hype, no bro-science. Built for formulators, brand managers, regulatory affairs teams, and anyone building in the health and nutrition space.
Marco: Four strong stories on the agenda today.
Klara: THG is raising its earnings forecast, and sports nutrition is doing the heavy lifting.
Marco: Then we're looking at BelliWelli taking gut health into Walmart — and what that means for the fibre category.
Klara: We'll dig into new research that's poking holes in popular recovery claims.
Marco: And Barebells is going after Swedish candy fans with a low-sugar twist.
Klara: Let's get into it.
Marco: THG has just lifted its full-year earnings forecast, and sports nutrition is the reason why.
Marco: THG is one of Europe's biggest health and wellness e-commerce groups. It owns a portfolio of brands across nutrition, beauty, and wellness. Its sports nutrition division is particularly significant — this is the home of Myprotein, one of the most recognised protein supplement brands on the continent.
Marco: The company upgraded its full-year earnings guidance after sports nutrition came in stronger than expected. This wasn't a modest beat — it was enough to move group-level financial forecasts. The rest of the wellness retail market is dealing with real headwinds right now, from softening consumer spending to category saturation. Sports nutrition appears largely insulated from that pressure.
Marco: From where I sit, this is a category confidence signal. Myprotein has scale, strong direct-to-consumer infrastructure, and a loyal repeat-purchase base. When a business this size upgrades guidance and points specifically at sports nutrition, other brands in the category should take notice. The consumer appetite is not slowing down.
Klara: I won't argue the commercial story — the numbers speak clearly. But I do want to flag something for marketers paying attention. Sports nutrition's growth is still heavily concentrated in a narrow set of products — whey, creatine, pre-workouts. The brands that will sustain this momentum are the ones building on EFSA-authorised health claims. EFSA is the European Food Safety Authority, the body that approves what health benefits you can legally state on packaging. Chasing trends without that regulatory foundation is a short-term play.
Marco: That's a fair challenge. Credibility is a long-term asset in this category. Right — let's move to our next story.
Klara: BelliWelli, a US gut health snack brand built around fibre, has just landed dedicated endcap placements in Walmart — and it's raising some real questions about where the digestive wellness category is heading.
Klara: Gut health has been one of the fastest-growing areas in consumer wellness for several years now. But it's largely lived in premium channels — specialist health retailers, direct-to-consumer, independent pharmacies. Mass retail has been slower to embrace it seriously.
Klara: BelliWelli has deliberately positioned itself as the brand that makes fibre interesting to a younger audience. The Walmart deal gives it prime in-store visibility — endcap placements, which are the high-traffic display spots at the end of supermarket aisles — across one of the world's largest retail networks. This is a significant channel shift.
Klara: My question is what happens to the science communication when you scale into mass retail. Gut health is a category where the underlying evidence genuinely varies by product. In Europe, EFSA has authorised very specific claims around certain fibres — chicory inulin and normal bowel function, for example — but the bar for those claims is high. When a brand chases mainstream reach, there's pressure to oversimplify. Vague language like "supports your gut" tends to creep in, and that erodes consumer trust over time.
Marco: I'd actually argue the opposite risk matters more right now. Staying in premium channels keeps your category niche. Walmart puts fibre in front of millions of shoppers who've never bought a gut health product deliberately. If the branding holds and the messaging stays honest, this could genuinely expand the category, not dilute it. The brands that crack mass retail without compromising credibility will own this space.
Klara: That's the challenge worth watching. Reach without rigour is a short road.
Marco: On to our next story.
Marco: New research is questioning the evidence behind some of the most popular recovery tools in sports nutrition — and the findings have real implications for how brands in this category communicate.
Marco: Recovery is a massive commercial space right now. Supplements marketed for post-exercise recovery are among the fastest-growing products in sports nutrition. Brands have built entire identities around the idea that their products accelerate muscle repair, reduce soreness, or speed return to performance.
Marco: This new research, covered by Science Daily, examined a range of widely used recovery modalities — ice baths, compression garments, massage, and recovery supplements. The conclusion was consistent across all of them: the benefits are frequently overstated, and in many cases, highly dependent on context. Who is using them, how they are training, and what they are recovering from all matter enormously. There is no universal effect.
Klara: This is not entirely surprising. The clinical evidence behind many recovery supplements has always been thinner than the marketing suggests. EFSA — the European Food Safety Authority — has authorised very few health claims specifically around exercise recovery. That tells you something. The regulatory science and the marketing narratives in this category are often not in the same room.
Marco: I actually think this is an opportunity rather than a problem. The brands still leaning on vague recovery language — "bounce back faster," "feel the difference" — are exposed by research like this. But brands that have already built their communication around specific, substantiated claims are in a stronger position than ever. Consumer scepticism is rising. Precision in language is now a commercial advantage.
Klara: The brands that resist the pressure to overclaim will be the ones still standing when the dust settles on this category.
Marco: Now let's turn to our final story today.
Klara: Barebells is launching a low-sugar confectionery range inspired by the Swedish candy trend, marking a significant step outside its core protein bar territory.
Klara: Barebells sits under the Vitamin Well Group and has built genuine credibility in the European sports nutrition and health snacking space. Its protein bars are well established across convenience, grocery, and fitness retail. The brand has real equity — consumers associate it with permissible indulgence, high protein, and a certain Scandinavian aesthetic. That reputation is now being asked to carry weight in a new category.
Klara: The range was unveiled at NACS, the major convenience channel trade show in the US. The positioning is low-sugar confectionery drawing on the Swedish candy moment — a trend that has been growing noticeably across Europe, particularly in the UK and Nordics. This is a deliberate play for new consumption occasions, specifically snacking moments that sit outside the post-workout or meal-replacement context.
Klara: From a regulatory standpoint, this is where I get cautious. Moving into confectionery means navigating a different set of labelling and claim rules. "Low sugar" has a defined meaning under EU food labelling law — no more than five grams of sugar per one hundred grams. That bar is clear. But brands often blur the line between a low-sugar claim and a broader health positioning, and in confectionery, EFSA's authorised health claims give you very little room. The science doesn't stretch as far as the marketing often wants to go.
Marco: The commercial logic is strong, though. Barebells has earned trust with health-conscious consumers. If it can translate that into the confectionery aisle without diluting the brand, it opens enormous new shelf space and impulse-purchase occasions. Other wellness brands will be watching this very carefully.
Klara: Brand equity is hard to build and easy to erode. The question is whether the product delivers on the health promise — or just borrows the brand's credibility without earning it.
Marco: Today's through-line is clear — brands that can prove their claims and package them for mainstream retail are the ones pulling ahead commercially.
Klara: And the science has to hold up, because consumers and regulators are both getting sharper at spotting the gaps.