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.

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.

SUMBIT YOUR ENTRY FOR 2026. The price to submit an entry for this category is $369.

Take advantage of our early bird discount: Save $50 on each entry submission if you submit before January 9, 2026.

SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY

Entries close on Friday, March 20, 2026 at 11.55pm CT, Chicago.

• 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 in May 2026.
• The 2026 winners will be announced during an awards’ presentation in Chicago on Monday, July 13, 2026