Veloforte's sports bars also feature in our new sports nutrition report "Real food": the strategy that's transforming sports nutrition.
Good taste and ease of digestion are winning a cult following for a sports nutrition snack based on a traditional Italian recipe – its high content of natural sugar viewed positively as “natural fuel” for athletes, that helps them avid digestive issues associated with some artificial sweeteners.
Seasoned cyclist Marc Giusti and his physiotherapist wife Lara have repurposed panforte – a traditional chewy dessert from Italy that’s packed with fruit and nuts, and which has been made by the Giusti family for generations – as a natural energy snack for sports.
With a few tweaks to make the product suitable for on-the-go consumption – the nuts are more finely-chopped and brandy replaced with citrus juice – the couple launched Veloforte bars in 2016.
Since then, said Marc Giusti, Veloforte has been well-received: “We are delighted by the amazing reception we have had. So far we’re breaking all expectations... in brand awareness, sales, listings and awards.
“Our brand is fast becoming the go-to natural alternative to the common mass-produced synthetic products and we see our customers engaging with us on a daily basis.”
Veloforte offers 70g bars for £6.99 ($9.25/€8.18) for three, as well as 210g bags of “bites” in three mixed flavours, and a mixed starter page (£16.99/$21.80/€19.29) offering all seven flavours, which are:
- Classico – with citrus fruit, almond and honey “to keep you going all day”
- Zenzero – with Sicilian lemon, almonds, pistachios and ginger “actively eases digestion and helps overcome muscle soreness”
- Ciocco – with dates, almonds and cocoa “for performance recovery”
- Di Bosco – with red berries, almonds, pistachios and rosemary, offering “powerful endurance nutrition”
- Pronto (vegan) – with figs, pistachios, and 80mg of natural caffeine from Matcha tea and guarana to “improve alertness and concentration”
- Avanti (vegan) – satisfyingly salted with dates, pecans, almonds and sea salt to “keep you refuelled and replenished”
- Forza – apricots, almonds, fennel and 12g of complete protein from egg whites for the “optimal workout refuelling bar”
In the sporting world, where artificially-sweetened bars, beverages and gels in lurid colours have been the norm for years, Veloforte bars stand out as a simple and natural source of energy.
“We believe that nutrition should be natural, powerful and delicious and we believe that every product on the market today fails on at least one or two of those,” Giusti told New Nutrition Business. “Gels for example are not natural or delicious; granola bars may be natural (sometimes) but they certainly aren’t powerful; synthetic energy bars taste awful and are clearly not natural and so on.”
A key attraction of Veloforte is that it’s easier on digestion than many sports products, which have earned a reputation for upsetting the stomach – “energy gel poop” is a well-known phenomenon that sportspeople are naturally keen to avoid.
“Ease of digestion is critical to sports people – as well as active lifestyle people, and anyone really,” said Giusti. “Typically sports nutrition causes gastric distress – bad tummy – from a mix of too many carbs, too many synthetic ingredients, consuming too much, allergies, and many other factors. Synthetic food is famous for this. It’s a cause of great concern to our customers.
“Gaining the confidence that your digestion is rock-solid and your energies are as high as possible is a huge boon. Our customers can concentrate on what they are trying to do, not where the nearest hedge or Portaloo might be.
“When we consume the types of real foods we all evolved amongst, such as ginger, beetroot, nuts, berries etc, we are consuming the nutrients our bodies know how to handle, that are stable in our systems, and that can provide the carbohydrates, proteins, fats, fibres etc that we need for balanced and effective energy and digestion.”
A real food approach means that artificial sugars are off the menu when it comes to product formulation. Veloforte bars get their sweetness from a variety of natural sources, with the exact mix varying by flavour, including cane sugar, dates, brown rice syrup, agave nectar and maple syrup.
While in the non-sporting world sugar is seen as an unwelcome source of calories, and increasingly linked to weight gain and even diabetes, in sports it can have a more positive image as a carbohydrate that offers ready energy.
Said Giusti: “Sugar intake is a complex discussion these days. Mostly the issue centres around ‘hidden’ sugars in processed foods and drinks and that these are consumed by often ’sedentary’ users. It’s critical that food manufactures correct this and that consumers understand this, but sugar (in of itself) is not the problem… it’s how and when we use it.
“We specifically design our recipes to...create a balanced endurance-energy profile… all the power of carbs, delivered in a balanced way that doesn’t upset the stomach and is able to help with transit through the gut and absorption.”
Giusti said Veloforte didn’t “sweeten” its products, instead it used natural sugars – carbs – to “build a flavour and performance profile in-tandem”.
Depending on variety, the sugar content of Veloforte bars ranges from 39.4% to 54.7%.
“If you need to sweeten your product, it’s because you’re having to mask your flavours by hiding behind something sweet,” he said. “This is what nearly all sports nutrition has done for decades… use poorly flavoured synthetic powders and preservatives and cover them in sweet tasting (synthetic) flavourings. Not us.”
Taste is a major consideration for the brand, with marketing using words like “satisfying”, “delicious” and “rich” – and Giusti believes taste sets the product apart from standard sports brands: “Our bars are the most powerful and natural products available and they are the only nutrition to have ever been awarded Great Taste Awards.
It’s for better taste that, for example, Veloforte eschewed pea protein for its Forza protein bar, instead using egg-whites. “Powders are hard to make taste good – they don’t! Egg-white is great to bake with and it’s also a ‘complete protein’ (all nine amino acids) – pea protein and many other proteins are not.
“Our customers know that they need natural, powerful and delicious food to help them recover. The Forza is specifically designed as a Recovery bar with 3:1 carbs:protein. It is not trying to be a food replacement product or muscle bulking product like many protein foods market themselves as.”
Better taste means that getting people to try the product is an effective marketing method for the brand: “Sampling is important, we have a hugely successful conversion from taste, so we want people to be able to try it,” said Giusti. “When they do they’re converted and quickly understand what we’re about.”
Most of Veloforte’s sales are direct-to-consumer via its online store: “We now have over 3,000 reviews and an average score of 4.9 out of 5. Whilst we have a long way to go, these early signs are hugely exciting,” said Giusti.
The brand also has some retail partners, including some independents and some larger multi-store retailers.
Veloforte started out targeting cyclists, but the brand now reaches into running, climbing, triathlon, obstacle course, sailing and many other sports. “Every endurance athlete or active-lifestyle individual is able to benefit from using our products and we have customers from all sports, shapes and sizes,” said Giusti. “Our pros love that Veloforte gives them access to hugely effective natural fuel, and our weekend warriors and lifestyle customers love the chance to experience the highest quality ingredients and taste whilst fuelling the things they’re passionate about.”
“Our approach meets customers’ needs in more and more relevant ways than ever before,” he added.
“In today’s market people are more educated and aware. They understand choice, quality and the importance of growing macro trends (such as obesity, diabetes and veganism) and this awareness is changing the way we consume, consider and engage with produce.”
Veloforte's sports bars also feature in our new sports nutrition report "Real food": the strategy that's transforming sports nutrition.
Taken from the New Nutrition Business June 2019 Edition
