“It’s been well-studied that MCT in the form of C8 is more ketogenic than other fatty acid chains,” says Mayuresh Bedekar, director of product strategic management, Glanbia Nutritionals. “Combining a coconut-sourced MCT-C8 with our quality whey protein isolate provides our customers the perfect combination to achieve keto-friendly sports nutrition and weight management focused products.”
According to a recent article on FoodNavigator-USA, data from Mintel's Global New Product Database shows that the number of new food and drink launches in the US touting the term 'keto' in the product description have nearly doubled within the past year from 1.2% of total food and beverage launches (for June 2019 through May 2020) to accounting for 2.3% of launches (June 2020 through May 2021), indicating continued consumer and market interest in the high-fat, low-carb diet.
And despite Google search trends data suggesting a cooling off in consumer interest over the past three years, and slightly fewer Americans reported following the diet in 2021 vs 2020 according to IFIC survey data, the keto diet, like clockwork, typically sees a strong spike at the beginning of each calendar year in renewed online shopper activity, Lauren Gibbons, marketing director at Label Insight (now part of NielsenIQ), told FoodNavigator-USA.
Additional data from Innova shows that medium chain triglycerides (MCT) have gained share in the keto space, from 11% of sports nutrition and supplement launches in 2015 to 16% in 2019, while 29% of consumers claim that “ketogenic” is either important or very important when choosing sports nutrition products, according to the FMCG Gurus, Sports Nutrition North America Overview.
Glanbia’s KetoSure MCT is a coconut-based MCT-C8 on a whey protein carrier. The ingredient is a source of high fat (72%), moderate protein (20.5%) with low carbohydrates and sugar. According to Glanbia, the ingredient has a smooth, clean flavor that requires no masking, and is rapidly soluble making it easy to include in powdered drink mixes, hot beverage powdered mixes, and snack and bar formulations.