Nick Morgan: Speaker Interview Series

On this special episode of Let’s Chat Dairy, Alyssa Badger welcomes Nick Morgan, Managing Director at Nutrition Integrated. Nick will be joining the Exploring Global Demand Trends in Dairy Proteins Panel at HighGround Dairy’s third annual Global Dairy Outlook Conference in Chicago next month. The podcast can be found here, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Subscribe so that you never miss an episode!

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General Registration is open for HighGround Dairy’s third annual Global Dairy Outlook Conference this June in Chicago! Space is limited at the historic Union League Club so be sure to register soon to secure your spot! Click here for more details, including the agenda, expert speakers, and more.

Transcript:

(0:12) Alyssa Badger:
Hello, everyone, and thank you so much for tuning in to Let’s Chat Dairy, your favorite weekly market podcast powered by HighGround Dairy. You’re hearing from Alyssa Badger, and we have a very exciting special episode today.

Joining me is Nick Morgan, Managing Director of Nutrition Integrated, whom also happens to be speaking at our Global Dairy Outlook Conference taking place in Chicago at the Union League Club on June 18th through the 20th. Nick will be speaking on our Exploring Global Demand Trends in Dairy Proteins Panel alongside Jing Hagert of Milk Specialties to discuss the key protein trends around the world.

Nick, we’d love to hear more about you and your company. Can you share a bit about your background, what it is Nutrition Integrated does, and you might also want to mention where it is you’re hailing from, just in case the accent doesn’t give it away.

(1:05) Nick Morgan:
Brilliant, thank you. Thanks for the invite, of course. So if the accent hasn’t given it away, we reside in the UK. We’re a UK-based company, and we provide market intelligence into what we would describe as the active nutrition industry. So that’s very much things like sports nutrition, active nutrition, lifestyle nutrition. So everything that sort of is ultimately a product that provides function that people have to enhance their performance-related or health-based goals. And we do that in terms of providing market intelligence through the lens of product. And we do a lot of product capturing, all of the sort of information claims, nutritional information, packaging price, product launches, product delists, of course, which is also important.

And we pull all of that together to help inform our customers, which are brands, ingredient suppliers, contract manufacturers, and I suppose anyone else along that supply chain, to help be best informed about the way that market is unfolding. And it’s a very, very interesting place to be, actually, because, of course, more and more people are interested in being healthier, if not more performance-orientated for the greater good, which is good.

(2:32) Alyssa:
Yeah, that term, functional ingredients, seems to be more and more popular. And I’m seeing it everywhere from China to the US to Europe. Very cool.

So how did you become interested in the field of nutrition and protein specifically? Were you already in the F&B industry? Are you a triathlete? What’s the story there?

(2:32) Nick:
I mean, I’ve done triathlons. I’ve done a couple of long-distance ones. I wasn’t sure I would ever describe myself as a triathlete, but we can go with that. That sounds positive for everyone. My background is actually exercise physiology and metabolism, and originally worked with elite athletes, would you believe? So back in the early days of my career, it was to help people become a little bit fitter and more for performance. That would be things like all the professional football clubs or soccer for those listening. We also did British canoe, speed skating. And I also did a lot of work in disability athletics. You can date me back to 2004 Paralympics in Athens in terms of where we helped prepare people for Paralympics in Greece. So that was my original background. So it’s a scientist by nature.

I then spent a few years at GlaxoSmithKline, five to be exact, sort of working on Lucozade Sport or the equivalent to Gatorade and Power Aid, working in R&D and then in the commercial side of the business in terms of applying the science. And then for the last 12 years, I’ve really been very much immersed in the industry as consultants, discussing innovation and products and ranging, which then led to the business in terms of putting some data underneath our consultative approach for the purposes of just, I guess, having more objectivity, the work that we did. So really quite interesting journey to go from applied sports science to nutrition data, but it’s a really nice one because I do think data is an important currency for everyone to build a good decision-making on.

(4:03) Alyssa:
Yeah, we couldn’t agree more. That’s very impressive. Thank you for sharing that.

Of course, we don’t want to give too much away because to really get the key insights from your team, our listeners need to attend our conference next month. But out of curiosity, are there any noticeable differences in protein preferences across different regions or demographics? What are you guys noticing?

(4:24) Nick:
Yeah, I mean, it’s a wonderful place. And I guess for everyone listening, it’s a nice place to remind everyone that protein is probably our biggest competency within the market intelligence we provide. So to put that into context, that’s protein powders. So imagine a protein powder for those who go to the gym, but also maybe those who are from an aging point of view or just wanted to be healthy. So protein powders, also the growth of protein bars, protein drinks, and now increasingly you’re seeing protein being added as a functional ingredient to yogurts and shots and bakery, cookies, muffins, pancakes, and all sorts. So that’s very much the world of protein that I live in. And it’s super cool.

Other differences, oh, where do I start? I mean, there’s differences actually all over the place, really. Some formats typically might be more of a dairy proponent. Some might be more other types of protein, plant-based or collagen. The amount of protein might differ between, definitely within a protein powder versus a protein bar, that the fundamental products are quite different. So that might differ. There’s nuances between protein per serving and protein per 100. And interestingly, from a geography point of view, which is what we will discuss at the conference, there’s definitely differences to what people like to use in North America and also in Europe. And actually one of those differences does reside in one of the big areas like protein bars. And the use of whey and milk differs quite significantly. There’s also some very much nuances for Asia too. So there is actually quite a lot to unpick with regards to the different protein sources. That’s one. The amount of protein, that would be another variable. Maybe the quality or the perceived quality of a protein source as well being another variable. And they differ between the protein formats and they’ll differ across countries. So there’s a lot to unpick. So for everyone listening who is attending, which is obviously a must, then do come prepared for questions.

(2:15) Alyssa:
I love it. Yeah, those high protein markets have been absolutely red hot from a price perspective as well. And what we continue to hear is that manufacturers can’t seem to keep up and the demand perspective really doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Even you look at the rising open conversation about women’s health and there’s an entire segment globally focused on protein and women’s health. And that goes for the Asia markets and even here in the U.S. So some very interesting niche segments there.

What are consumers looking for exactly in protein products today? And I guess since it’s different across the entire world, we could focus more on Europe or the U.S. Is it more about quality, source or something else?

(6:16) Nick:
I think it does depend on what their goal is actually. So let’s just take the gym or muscle based as an example. And when I say muscle, a lot of that market can still be aesthetic based or to be strong and more powerful, for example. That space is very much whey orientated. So to some extent, it’s very much about quality, way being perceived to be the gold standard and probably quite rightly so for compliments, highly seen content and so on. So assuming you’re providing 20 to 25 grams per serving or in one consumption moment, that would be perceived as a very high quality product. Within that, there are really interesting intricacies of the ranging from where protein concentrates to isolates to hydrolyzed and the combinations of those and products. So I think in that space for that particular benefit to which it is the most important element of the functional protein market, I would say it’s very much about quality. I would say though, that it is a prerequisite to deliver an amount of protein that also still delivers a functional benefit. So the current thinking is it’s been for quite some time as 20 to 25 grams, equivalent to eight to nine grams of amino acids and two to three grams of leucine would be seen as providing a maximal dose to stimulate what they call muscle protein synthesis. Hopefully that’s not over too many people’s heads or is still something they can follow or feel is interesting. But I think as an industry, we do like to think that quality remains important and in truth for everyone listening, it is.

I do think there’s changes though, if people are more, let’s say, beauty orientated, I don’t want to stereotype to females, but let’s say the inner beauty market that tends to go into protein more so much than collagen. And if people just want more general health, it seems to default rightly or wrongly into plant-based proteins. So there is some interesting differences to how those proteins from dairy to plant to collagen, for example, can differ according to sort of the different categories or markets that exist. I wish they weren’t also stereotyped, but sometimes that’s easier for the way the categories develop and ultimately what consumers think. So yeah, hopefully that’s it. Again, dangling some carrots of interest for people.

(9:04) Alyssa:
Yeah, absolutely. Amazing. Speaking of the consumer, do you feel like they’re more educated now about their protein choices?

(9:13) Nick:
Yep, definitely. I think on one hand, more people are becoming more educated. I think sadly, on the other hand, there’s still a growing number of people who are remarkably uneducated. And that’s actually a basic education challenge that I think societally we face on good nutrition, even just at a macronutrient level and how many people understand it. But actually, when it comes to our industry, providing functional proteins for the greater good performance and health, more and more people are understanding. I think it does help at least on the basis that protein really is super mainstream.

It’s, you know, think of North America and Costco, Walmart, and all your major, a sort of grocery chains, for example. You know, protein is very readily available. It’s in more traditional sort of confectionary formats, everyday drinking formats. And that alone just becomes a surrogate of protein. And that’s definitely helped the charge in that direction. In Europe, it is definitely the same. We just face more of a geographical challenge that every European country is quite different. So the UK from France to Germany, the channels are different, the cultural differences. There’s so much sort of fragmentation in Europe compared to the US.

But in general, across a whole of the global audience, protein is becoming definitely more mainstream and that’s driving greater education, which at the very basic level is just surrogate, quote, unquote, protein must be healthy then. And I think that message is a good one. And I would wholeheartedly agree, actually.

Alyssa:
Even if it’s through TikTok.

(10:44) Nick:
Yeah, yeah. That’s another argument altogether, or discussion, sorry. But the role of the social media just means we’ve never been more connected, let’s call it. And so messages that perpetuate online, travel the world very quickly, and it definitely is a great way to capture the new or the next generation of consumers.

(11:04) Alyssa:
I love it. Thank you so much, Nick, for sharing your insights with us today. I think this was a great teaser as to what people can expect next month. I’m so excited to have you here in Chicago. It’s been an absolute pleasure.

For our listeners, if you want to learn more about Nick and Nutrition Integrated, where should they check you out?

(11:24) Nick:
Yeah, I mean, you can definitely find us online on our website. It’s a good place to start. Online, it’s actually nutritionintegrated.com. And you can find me on LinkedIn, actually. If you go to the conference website, I know that you’ve put my LinkedIn next to the bio, actually, where you can find me as one of the speakers. So that’s a good place to find out a little bit more about us. And also follow us a little bit. We do have a lot of great insights coming out via those channels on a daily basis for not just our customers, but our broader ecosystem of people who are interested in what we do. It’s a fast and evolving, changing market. So, yeah, we try to keep people as up to date as we can.

(12:01) Alyssa:
That’s for sure. Well, this conversation is just the tip of the iceberg for what you can expect from this panel at our Global Dairy Outlook Conference next month. We have so many incredible speakers turning up and we can’t wait to see you in Chicago. Cheers.

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