“Our turnover grew by nearly 35% last year, and we are on track for another strong performance this year,” Jonathan Cartwright, Beet It Sport brand manager, told NutraIngredients-USA.
Part of UK-based James White Drinks, Beet It Sport bottles over one million Sport Nitrate 400 shots a year and exports to over 25 countries. In the US, the 2.5-oz. shots – equivalent to 10 to 17 oz. of beet juice – are primarily sold online through Amazon and are available at select Krogers, Sprouts and Whole Foods stores.
Not all beet juice is created equal
Formulated with a standard 400 mg of nitrate, the Nitrate 400 is the “only concentrated beet juice product on the market to deliver a consistent, adequate dose of dietary nitrate per serving,” Cartwright said.
He also accredits Beet It's category-leading success to its popularity in the research community, which has adopted the standardized dose to produce an ever-growing body of scientific research on the benefits of dietary nitrate for health and athletic performance.
“A key effect of dietary nitrate is that it reduces the oxygen demand of exercise, meaning the muscles need less oxygen to maintain a given work rate, thereby improving exercise efficiency, fatigue resistance and exercise performance,” Cartwright explained.
The company will continue to highlight the science-backed research to educate the US consumer on both the exercise and health benefits of beet juice, including the importance of consuming enough dietary nitrate to elicit these benefits since “not all beet juice products are created equal”.
Best in sports nutrition
This year, the Nitrate 400 shot took home the NutraIngredients-USA Product of the Year Award in the sports nutrition category. Judges noted the extent of performance research, commercial achievements, delivery system, quality control and efficacious doses.
“The recognition has helped us to engage with retailers, distributors and social media audiences in the US and around the world,” Cartwright said. “More and more team dietitians and nutritionists are becoming aware of our products.”
Beet It currently supplies 18 of 32 NFL teams and is championed by professional athletes the likes of U.S. Olympic bobsledder Lauren Gibbs, World’s Strongest Man Tom Stoltman and long-distance runner Eliud Kipchoge, who took home Olympic gold in Tokyo last year.
Looking forward, it plans to target not only more professional and college teams but the committed amateur sporting community in the US.
“Part of our strategy includes exhibiting at major marathon exhibitions, which attract masses of enthusiastic active nutrition consumers,” Cartwright added, noting the success of past exhibitions at the Chicago and Boston marathons.
Coming soon: Nitrate 8000 Crystals
Beet It is also preparing to roll out its Nitrate 8000 Crystals in the US market in 2023 as an alternative to the intensely flavored (and perhaps acquired taste) of the Nitrate 400 shots.
“They make dietary nitrate supplementation more accessible to the wider sporting community and should enable more people than ever to test the limits of their exercise performance,” Cartwright noted.
