SECTOR DESK
The Nutrition & Supplements desk covers the fuel side of the fitness economy: protein products, supplements, functional food and the retail shelf they compete for. Protein has crossed over from gym culture to mainstream grocery, and the desk treats that crossover as the defining story — how a macronutrient became a marketing category, and what that does to formulation, pricing and shelf space. Coverage follows ingredient science and its regulators as closely as funding rounds: health claims, label rules and the gap between study results and storefront promises. The desk watches where capital flows in the category, which formats travel beyond specialty retail, and whether gym-floor retail — the tub of powder at reception — becomes a real profit line for operators or stays an afterthought. Skepticism is the house style: the desk distinguishes demand from novelty and formulation from branding, and gives weight to distribution economics, because in consumer packaged goods the winner is usually the one that gets on the shelf and stays there.
Innova ranks protein the No. 1 global food-and-drink trend of 2026, with 80% of consumers paying attention to it — and capital is following, with WILDE's $40 million round targeting a $5.5 billion meat-snack market.
