New Paper Highlights the Economic Value of INFORMED Certification

There is a common view that there are benefits for Brands and Manufacturers in the sports nutrition sector that subject their products and processes to testing and certification. While these benefits are well publicised, there has been a lack of clear evidence on the economic and operational benefits to certified brands or manufacturers.

A new report, published by Ray Lambert, (Consultant and Associate Research Fellow, Birkbeck, University of London) and Marion Frenz (Reader in Management, Birkbeck, University of London), redresses this lack of evidence by using internal and external datasets to identify the value for brands that go through the INFORMED Quality Assurance Programmes.

Their paper, titled "The Economic Impact of the INFORMED Quality Assurance Programmes", explores the impact that INFORMED certification has in terms of quality assurance and product integrity, topline growth, profitability, modernisation, and operational efficiency. This has been carried out through an analysis of internal testing data, a review of extant literature on certification and testing regimes, and data from responses to a survey of Sports Nutrition brands and manufacturers.

The empirical evidence in the report demonstrates that certification to the INFORMED Programmes generates extensive and positive business impacts, on a scale greater than might have been expected in the light of previous research. This is notable as the programmes have primarily been developed to ensure the production safer supplements, and not with the objectives of business growth, profitability, operational efficiency, and innovation.

The literature points towards considerable growth potential in the market for sports supplements. This is coupled with extensive coverage of the perceived risks to users of sports nutrition supplements, specifically elite athletes. These risks can be mitigated through third-party certification.

Previous research pointed towards four distinct benefits of certification:

• Enhanced consumer confidence
• Enhanced product safety
• Food labelling
• Compliance

This report, through direct responses from INFORMED customers, shows more far-reaching impacts additional to the four benefits above including:

• Better financial outcomes through market differentiation
• Increased product quality and reduced product recall.
• Improved product innovation
• Improved market access
• Enhanced brand reputation, market awareness and consumer trust
• A high share of customers willing to pay for the additional quality assurance of INFORMED certification.

To view the full report, fill out the form down below to download a copy, complete with full report statistics, information on the survey sample, and full conclusion.