Science in Sport (SiS) has announced that its PhD brand has extended its Smart range by launching the vegan Smart Bar Plant, a high protein plant-based bar.
With a low sugar content, Smart Bar Plant claims up to double the amount of protein compared with plant-based competitors. It is designed for gym goers and sports enthusiasts following any diet including ‘vegans, flexitarians and others seeking a great tasting, high protein bar’.
Smart Bar Plant is approved as vegan by the Vegetarian Society and contains 100% natural and gluten-free ingredients.
SiS notes that Smart Bar Plant is addressing a rapidly growing market. According to the Vegan Society, the number of vegans in the UK quadrupled in the four years to 2018. Meanwhile, the meat-free nutrition market is forecast to grow 44% to £1.1 billion between 2018 and 2023; and one in five UK adults are now said to be following a flexitarian diet.
PhD, which has used plant proteins for nearly a decade in some of its existing range of performance nutrition products, is using pea, soya and nut protein in Smart Bar Plant. The new bar is available in four flavours: Dark Choc Brownie, Choc Peanut Caramel, Choc Toffee Popcorn and Choc Coconut & Cashew. The bars contain 20-23g of protein, only 2-3g of sugar and only 6-9g of total carbohydrates.
Smart Bar Plant, which officially launches at the BodyPower fitness exhibition in Birmingham on 10 May 2019, is being made available through PhD’s retail channels – including Holland & Barrett and Amazon. It is also available at PhD’s newly launched website, www.phd.com, which has a dedicated section for plant-based sports nutrition products.
Stephen Moon, Science in Sport’s Chief Executive Officer, said “The PhD brand, which has worked with plant proteins for almost a decade, has overcome the traditional weaknesses of plant-based bars – namely low protein, high sugar and poor taste – to create a highly differentiated plant protein bar which offers very high protein and low sugar without compromising on taste.
“Demand from gym goers and sports enthusiasts for plant-based products continues to grow rapidly from vegan, flexitarian, environment-conscious and other consumers. We see PhD’s Smart Bar Plant as a highly innovative product in this market.”
