Vitafoods Europe returned to Barcelona's Fira Gran Via from May 5 to 7, 2026, for what organisers Informa Markets confirmed as the largest edition in the event's 28-year history. More than 1,600 exhibitors and an expected 30,000 attendees from over 135 countries filled a show floor that had expanded by 22% with the addition of a new hall.
The show has now run twice in Barcelona following its move from Geneva's Palexpo, where it was held for 26 years. The 2025 edition drew 25,500 attendees and 1,455 exhibitors. The 2026 numbers represent continued growth on both counts.
The Show Floor
Four sectors covered the supply chain across the expanded halls: Ingredients and Raw Materials, Finished Products, Contract Manufacturing and Private Label, and Services and Equipment. Returning zones included the New Ingredients Zone, New Products Zone, and Tasting Centre. A Pet Nutrition Hub expanded from its 2025 debut, and the Community Lounge was introduced as a dedicated space for industry associations to run sessions — a format used by ESSNA (European Specialist Sports Nutrition Alliance) and Spain's AFEPADI among others.
The conference programme across the three days ran to more than 37 hours of content and over 100 speakers. Day three featured new spotlight sessions on weight management and nutricosmetics, both run as dedicated half-day formats for the first time in 2026.
Sports Nutrition on the Floor
Sports and active nutrition was visible across multiple halls and categories. The consistent narrative across exhibitor previews and floor activity was the broadening of the category beyond gym-specific consumers. Balchem Human Nutrition and Health's VP of Science and Marketing Dominik Mattern spoke on the show floor about the shift from premium to everyday athletes, and highlighted creatine and magnesium bisglycinate as ingredients being driven into new health applications partly through social media.
Functional ingredients distributor Prinova showcased a clear pea protein drink targeting plant-based consumers seeking post-workout recovery, alongside gut health and beauty-from-within beverage concepts. Cargill exhibited under the theme "Empowering Active Lives, Together," showing a 30%-reduced-sugar isotonic hydration drink, sugar-free gummies incorporating the EpiCor postbiotic, a performance bar combining plant and dairy proteins, and a bite-sized high-protein format called VitalBite.
Arla Foods Ingredients — now combined with Volac Whey Nutrition — showed GLP-1 companion food solutions featuring high-protein formats for consumers using GLP-1 weight management medications, alongside a new aerated protein bar called AirBar and clear ready-to-stir protein concepts.
Angel Yeast used the show to unveil AngeoPro, a yeast-derived protein ingredient targeted at sports nutrition and functional beverage applications, backed by published clinical data covering muscle health, exercise performance, and weight management. The company's global product manager Dr. Sun presented a keynote in the Vitafoods Insights Theatre on yeast protein as an option for next-generation sports nutrition formulations.
Spanish ingredients company Nektium offered sampling of RTD concepts featuring its Rhodiolife Rhodiola rosea extract and Zynamite mango leaf extract — both positioned around cognitive and physical performance.
Creatine
Creatine was among the most active ingredient categories at the show. Netherlands-based Qura Creatine officially launched at Vitafoods, positioning itself as a challenger to what co-founder Michael Hekking described as a "near-monopoly" in the premium creatine supply market. The product claims purity above 99.95%, full batch traceability, and independent testing in both the EU and US for anti-doping compliance. Qura was exhibited in Hall 6 and also featured in the New Ingredients Zone.
Mingchyi Biotechnology (MCB Group) brought CreHytine, an instant buffered creatine using hydrogel and buffered technology to achieve 100% water solubility, to the show as a Vitafoods Europe Innovation Award finalist in the Sports Nutrition and Active Lifestyle Ingredient category.
TSI Group's OptiCreatine, a processing technology approach to improving creatine solubility and format flexibility, was also highlighted across the event's exhibitor coverage.
GLP-1 and Nutrition
GLP-1 medications were a recurring theme across sessions and exhibitor activity throughout the three days. Day three's spotlight sessions included a presentation by Mintel's specialised nutrition analyst Sophia Cornelius on nutrition innovation in a GLP-1 era, and a panel discussion on complementary supplements for GLP-1 users featuring a senior scientist from the British Nutrition Foundation.
HTBA launched Leanara, a GLP-1 companion ingredient combining proprietary bioflavonoids with bioavailable vitamin B12, designed to help GLP-1 medication users maintain muscle mass and energy during weight loss.
Conference: Sports Nutrition Sessions
A dedicated sports nutrition panel ran on May 5 at 1:00pm in the Vitafoods Conference Theatre, featuring Susan Kleiner from High Performance Nutrition LLC, Nick Morgan from Nutrition Integrated, and Alex Glover from Holland and Barrett. The session covered developments in ingredients for performance, endurance, and recovery.
Kleiner presented separately on May 6 on the return of carbohydrates in sports nutrition. Women's health dietitian Linia Patel presented on May 6 on female performance nutrition — covering muscle, bone, and brain nutrition requirements specific to women.
ESSNA ran its "Unlocking the Rulebook in Europe's Changing Market" session on May 6 from 3:30 to 4:15pm in the Community Lounge, covering upcoming changes to food labelling, marketing, and composition rules, EU–UK regulatory divergence, and sustainability requirements. (A separate piece covering ESSNA and the EU regulatory picture for sports nutrition is available on the Stackcess blog.)
The Awards
Two separate awards programmes ran alongside the show.
NutraIngredients Europe Awards
The NutraIngredients Europe Awards ceremony was held on the evening of May 6 at Agua Barcelona, with 16 categories across ingredients, products, research, and initiatives.
In the sports nutrition categories, Synbio Tech won Ingredient of the Year: Sports Nutrition for Lactiplantibacillus plantarum TWK10 — a probiotic strain available in both probiotic and postbiotic formats, backed by multiple clinical trials for endurance, recovery, and protein absorption. Finalists in that category were CBDpur by Vita Actives in partnership with Chanelle McCoy Health, and Enzans by Health Currancy.
Health Currancy won Product of the Year: Sports Nutrition for CurraNZ Original New Zealand Blackcurrant — an Informed-Sport certified supplement built around its proprietary Enzans blackcurrant anthocyanin extract. Finalists in that category were Crank Pump Pro 2.0 by ESN and CreGAAtine by Carnomed. Judges said CurraNZ "stood out with its strong science and efficacy for performance and recovery" and that "documented effects on glycogen storage and muscle metabolism combined with the validation from professional athletes using the product gave CurraNZ the differentiating X-factor."
Other winners across the full programme: Nektium won both Ingredient of the Year: Botanical and Ingredient of the Year: Mind and Mood for Vanizem; Threotech won the Nutrition Research Project category for the Magtein Brain Magnesium Research Program; Oceanium won the Editors Award for Sustainability Initiative of the Year for Ocean Actives H+; NUCAPS won the Start-Up Award; and Dr. Ralf Jäger was named NutraChampion.
Vitafoods Europe Innovation Awards
The Vitafoods Europe Innovation Awards ceremony ran on the evening of May 5 at the Fira Barcelona Gran Via across eight categories.
The Sports Nutrition and Active Lifestyle Ingredient category was won by Natural Remedies for Ashwa.30, a next-generation ashwagandha extract derived from 100% roots, delivering benefits at a daily dose of 30mg. Finalists in that category were Givaudan for Cereboost — an American ginseng extract standardised to a specific ginsenoside profile, positioned for focus, reaction time, and mental energy — and MCB Group for CreHytine.
Other Vitafoods Innovation Award winners: Martin Bauer Nutraceuticals won Immune and Gut Health for 360GUT; Threotech won Cognitive and Emotional Health for Magtein; Puredia won Healthy Ageing for Omegia Omega-7; Monteloeder by Suannutra won Weight Management for Metabolaid; Mibelle AG Biochemistry won Nutricosmetic Ingredient for DracoBelle Nu; Kaneka Ubiquinol Europe in collaboration with Eqology won Most Innovative Consumer-Ready Nutraceutical Finished Product; and Nordic Bioproducts won Sustainability for its carbon-smart microcrystalline cellulose produced using a process requiring 95% less water and 90% less energy than conventional methods.
Startups
The Vitafoods Europe Startup Challenge 2026 finalists presented live on May 5. Notable entrants relevant to sports and active nutrition included Exosomm, which is developing whey protein concentrate enriched with bioactive milk exosomes, and Standing Ovation, a French precision fermentation company producing a casein ingredient it says delivers equivalent nutritional and functional performance to animal-derived casein with significantly lower CO2 and water use.