Ingredient of the Year: Sports Nutrition
in association with Sports & Active Nutrition Summit USA

Sports and active nutrition is no longer just for elite athletes, it’s a lifestyle category serving performance-focused individuals and everyday active consumers alike. This award celebrates the most innovative ingredients designed to enhance energy, endurance, recovery, hydration, muscle health, and joint support.

All ingredients specifically formulated for and marketed within sports nutrition applications are eligible, from advanced nutrient combinations for high-performance athletes to convenient solutions for on-the-go consumers. Today’s leading ingredients reflect developments in science-backed bioactives as well as clean label, and multi-functional formats.

Entries for the 2026 NutraIngredients Awards are now closed.
To be kept in the loop about the awards, please click on the button below. 

REGISTER YOUR INTEREST

Our Judges will look at how your ingredient meets specific needs and will base their scores on your evidence to demonstrate:

  • A genuine consumer demand or requirement based upon a common issue or risk factor 
  • Solid scientific evidence to demonstrate a unique nutritional solution to this need or problem – including peer reviewed data to back up any performance or health claims made
  • Commercial success and engagement from your core target market(s). Give numbers and examples of sales and applications that are available in the market 
  • What gives your ingredient the ‘X factor’ – something that makes it stand out from the crowd and edge out the competition (including evidence to back up claims)

To view the requirements for this category, click here to download .

  • Entries for The NutraIngredients USA Awards, Ingredient of the Year categories are required to have the ingredient in a finished product that is commercially available in the United States.
  • All entries need to abide to our Entry Terms & Conditions
  • Once all entries have been received they will be reviewed by the NutraIngredients USA Awards Judging Panel made up of independent judges from the industry.
  • The 2026 finalists will be confirmed and notified at the end of May 2026.
  • The 2026 winners will be announced during an awards’ presentation in Chicago on Monday, July 13, 2026