Bespoke sports nutrition manufacturing

Creatine, protein, electrolytes and pre-training formulas we make

From the first formula to the finished product, we develop and make custom creatine supplements, protein powders, electrolyte drinks, pre-training formulas and recovery products for brands as a sports nutrition manufacturer. We make every format in our Leicester facility: powders and drink mixes, stick packs and sachets, gummies, capsules and tablets, liquids and shots, and energy pouches. We set each dose from the evidence, such as 3 g of creatine a day for the authorised performance claim, and supply a certificate of analysis and a batch release confirmation with every batch. Your brand owns the formula.

We make products for brands that sell to people who run, lift, play and age actively. In the US, sports nutrition took 15.6% of supplement sales in 2025 and grew 8% (Nutrition Business Journal via Nutraceuticals World, March 2026); NBJ's June 2026 figures put 2025 growth for all US supplements at 7.1% (New Hope Network, June 2026).

Sports launches now: hydration, clean energy and women's formulas

Seven product types lead development now.

• Creatine beyond the gym. Gummies, drink mixes and daily formulas for women and older adults. SPINS data show US creatine gummy sales up 171.1% in the year to 2 November 2025 (Nutraceuticals World, February 2026). Potency is the weak point, and chemistry is part of the reason: creatine breaks down in moist, acidic recipes.
• Everyday hydration. Electrolyte sticks and tablets for people who never race. Single-serve packs took 65.3% of electrolyte powder revenue in 2025 (Grand View Research, July 2026).
• Protein for daily life. Drink mixes, clear proteins and shakes for training, healthy ageing and people using GLP-1 medicines, built to a protein level that carries an authorised claim.
• Clean and non-stimulant energy. Lower-caffeine and caffeine-free pre-training formulas built on nitrate, citrulline, beta-alanine and betaine, with newer actives such as paraxanthine where markets allow them.
• Women's sports nutrition. Formulas designed around women's training, body size and life stage, not a new label colour. The research gap is real: of 5,261 sport and exercise science papers published from 2014 to 2020 in six journals, 6% included women only and 31% men only (Cowley and colleagues, 2021).
• Hybrid fitness racing. Races that combine running with strength stations call for endurance fuel and strength support in one plan: carbohydrate and electrolytes for the race, caffeine before it, protein and creatine around training.
• Recovery. Protein, carbohydrate and electrolytes after training, with magnesium and potassium carrying authorised muscle function claims.

Many brands start with private label sports nutrition: a stock formula with their logo on it. A bespoke formula gives you doses matched to the evidence, formats competitors cannot copy from a catalogue, and control of your supply. Your formula is yours.

Every project runs through the same development stages: brief, evidence review, formulation, bench samples, blind sensory panels, a pilot batch on production equipment, stability in the final pack, and scale-up into routine production. We test sports powders the way customers mix them, in water and milk, by shaker and spoon, and score lumps, foam and residue. Each stage leaves a record you keep, and R&D is a paid stage that can be included with an order of the right size.

Creatine to taurine: what a sports nutrition manufacturer specifies

We specify every active by form, grade and dose. The International Olympic Committee's consensus statement found good evidence of performance benefits for only a few supplements, including caffeine, creatine, specific buffering agents and nitrate (Maughan and colleagues, British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2018). Pre-workout formulas and amino acid supplements, including leucine and HMB, have their own pages.

Creatine

Creatine monohydrate carries the evidence, and creatine is the only one of those actives with an authorised performance claim in GB and the EU: it increases physical performance in successive bursts of short-term, high intensity exercise. The claim needs 3 g of creatine a day, on foods aimed at adults performing high-intensity exercise. A second authorised claim says daily creatine can enhance the effect of resistance training on muscle strength in adults over the age of 55, again at 3 g a day.

Protein

Whey, milk proteins and plant blends carry the protein claims: protein contributes to a growth in muscle mass and to the maintenance of muscle mass, on foods that are at least a source of protein. With whey costs rising, we design blends and plant proteins that hold amino acid quality, taste and mixability.

Electrolytes and carbohydrate

Carbohydrate-electrolyte solutions carry two authorised claims, for maintaining endurance performance in prolonged endurance exercise and for water absorption during exercise. The conditions are tight: 80 to 350 kcal per litre from carbohydrates, at least 75% of that energy from high-glycaemic carbohydrates, 20 to 50 mmol per litre of sodium, and an osmolality of 200 to 330 mOsm/kg water. Zero-sugar electrolyte products fall outside those conditions, so their claims come from minerals: magnesium and potassium contribute to normal muscle function, and magnesium to electrolyte balance.

Caffeine and paraxanthine

Caffeine works, but no caffeine performance claim is authorised in GB or the EU, so labels give the caffeine per serving, not a performance promise. EFSA's safety opinion sets the design limits: single doses up to 200 mg, and 400 mg a day from all sources, raise no safety concerns for healthy adults outside pregnancy (EFSA, 2015). In powders, we premix caffeine before it meets the bulk blend and check uniformity, so every scoop and stick carries its stated dose. Paraxanthine, the main compound the body makes from caffeine, is not authorised as a novel food in the EU, so our EU formulas leave it out.

Beetroot, buffers and taurine

Nitrate comes as concentrated beetroot shots, powders and extracts, and its content varies between raw materials, so we specify nitrate per serving, measured by accredited partner laboratories, rather than beetroot weight. Beta-alanine and sodium bicarbonate, the buffering agents behind the IOC's evidence, are dosed in grams and suit powders and capsules. Taurine appears in many energy drinks and pre-workouts. None of these four carries an authorised claim in GB or the EU, so labels state content, not effect.

Large sports doses, and the formats that carry them

Sports doses are large, so the format follows the dose.

• Powders and drink mixes carry gram doses of protein, creatine, electrolytes and pre-training blends; see powder supplement manufacturing.
• Stick packs and sachets deliver one exact serving, such as a 3 g creatine dose or one electrolyte drink.
• Gummies suit creatine, electrolytes and caffeine when the serving count is honest and stability work protects the dose, with an active assay on every batch as standard; see gummy manufacturing.
• Liquids and shots suit beetroot nitrate and pre-training energy.
• Capsules and tablets carry caffeine, beetroot extract and beta-alanine with no taste work.
• Energy pouches release caffeine in the mouth, with no water needed.

We make every format above in our Leicester facility, which is ISO 9001, HACCP and GMP certified by BSI, and FDA registered. Capsules, gummies, pouches and liquids are GMP certified. For retail programmes: BRCGS implementation under way, certification expected in early 2027.

One sequence for tubs, sticks and gummies

Every sports product runs through the same controlled sequence, recorded in the batch record.

1. Weigh and dispense. Materials are weighed against the batch record under our allergen management plan, with yellow colour coding for allergens such as milk and soy.
2. Blend, deposit and fill. Powders blend for a validated time and are checked for uniformity, then filled by weight into tubs, resealable pouches or sticks, with scoops sized to the finished blend. Gummies are cooked, deposited with piece weights checked through the run, and dried to their target water activity.
3. Label and release. Label verification on every batch is the critical control point in our HACCP plan, and quality control releases each batch against its specification.

One formula can launch as a tub and as single-serve sticks for travel, sampling and subscription.

Creatine, protein and contaminant tests, with your documents

Every batch is tested by accredited partner laboratories (ISO/IEC 17025) as part of every order, then released against its specification; see testing and batch release. The panel, set for each product and market, covers:

• Active content. HPLC for creatine and caffeine, with creatinine measured in gummies, and an active assay on every gummy batch as standard.
• Protein. Protein by nitrogen methods, with an amino acid profile that catches nitrogen spiking.
• Contaminants. Heavy metals by ICP-MS, which matter most in plant proteins and large daily servings, and microbiology.
• Allergens and physical checks. Allergen verification where relevant, moisture, bulk density and mixability.

Every batch comes with a certificate of analysis and a batch release confirmation against the agreed specification, the documents retailers and marketplaces ask for. Development adds the formula, process summary, stability data and a claims review for each market.

Which sports claims are authorised, and on what conditions?

Sports claims follow the register, not the research. The table sets out the position as of October 2026, from the GB nutrition and health claims register, the EU register and US law.

One formula can serve all three markets when it is built for them from the start, with label copy for each. Start your project with your target markets, and we build the claims plan with the formula.

Age limits, EU mineral reviews and the 2027 Prohibited List

As of October 2026, these are the points that change what sports brands can make, sell and claim. We review each line every quarter, and our regulation watch tracks the detail.

• US age rules. New York bans under-18 sales of supplements marketed for weight loss or muscle building, and California adds a similar ban from 1 January 2027. We write US copy and age statements to each state's rules.
• EU mineral limits. EU maximum levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements are under review, so we design EU electrolyte formulas with a ready alternative.
• Anti-doping. WADA's 2027 Prohibited List takes effect on 1 January 2027, and we check every sports formula against the list in force.

Banned substances: how brands manage the risk

Under WADA's rules, athletes are responsible for any prohibited substance found in their body, whatever its source, and the IOC names inadvertent intake of prohibited substances as a known risk of some supplements (Maughan and colleagues, 2018). Brands that sell to tested athletes manage the risk in four places.

1. Formula. As standard practice, every sports formula is checked against the current Prohibited List at concept stage, and we leave out stimulants and botanicals whose identity cannot be proven.
2. Supply. Every supplier passes our approval before any material is used and is reviewed every year.
3. Site. Traceability is proven, not assumed: our full mock recall, forward and backward with mass balance, runs in seconds, and we keep three retained samples per batch for shelf life plus one year.
4. Batch testing. Informed Sport certification is arranged for your product. The programme reviews site procedures, then screens every batch, each flavour included, for more than 285 substances prohibited in sport with an ISO 17025 accredited method before release, and buys products at retail for blind testing (Informed Sport, October 2026).

References: Maughan and colleagues, IOC consensus statement on dietary supplements, British Journal of Sports Medicine (2018); Regulation (EU) No 432/2012 (2012); Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/672 (2017); Regulation (EU) 2026/1118 (2026); EFSA, scientific opinion on the safety of caffeine (2015); Cowley and colleagues, Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal (2021); WADA, 2027 Prohibited List (2026).