If the typical order of creatine seems too expensive or is not available, it is not a nightmare. There is a shortage of creatine and it is affecting consumers and supplement companies. The brands no longer have stock available or their prices have almost doubled in recent months. What is the reason?
As with toilet paper in the first weeks of 2020, creatine is in the spotlight. Before the pandemic, supplements helped drive steady growth in the industry of around five percent year over year. But in April 2020, sales were 44% higher than the same period in 2019. As gyms closed and health became the focus of the news, people were buying supplements at an astonishing rate. However, this frenzy came at a price.
Increased demand for products such as whey protein, multivitamins, and creatine challenges the supply chain from end to end. For this particular product, the pandemic has created a drastic shortage. As a result, the price of creatine has risen steadily, with no end in sight.
almost twice as expensive
Although exact figures are difficult to come by, creatine supplementation is a highly profitable global industry. Athletes take it daily in pill or powder form to improve their performance or physique. For buyers, the fact of the matter is that creatine must be taken daily. As such, they need to renew their personal supplies regularly.
As it stands, the shortage remains and we anticipate that creatine will be harder to buy during 2022. For this supplement, the low availability is a huge blow. Although it is sold in isolation, it is also a common ingredient in supplementation mixes. When creatine itself goes up in price, it’s likely that the complementary products will too.
Creatine maintained a constant average price of approximately €10 per kilogram at the beginning of 2021. On the same date, a year later, it can easily cost up to €24 per kilogram . And it is expected to continue to rise throughout the year. Prices have been rising rapidly on existing creatine products. Although so have some vendors struggling to provide the supplement, which are the result of knots in the supply chain. That chain spans most of the world, and while it is highly efficient when running smoothly, it is easily derailed by health crises.
A large part of the world’s monohydrate is synthesized and exported by China . Pandemic-related restrictions, such as capacity limitations on factories, narrow the path through which the country supplies creatine to Western supplement brands.
And while some brands package and sell creatine products domestically, the basic ingredient, known as Creapure, is an international patent owned by German manufacturer AlzChem Group. AlzChem’s operations are partly at the mercy of China’s crop yields, so a poor harvest can have a significant ripple effect on the overall process.
Quality will not be altered
An international supply chain collapse may seem like a distant concern to the person just trying to take supplementation. That said, there’s nothing wrong with worrying about more than just the bank account.
While consumers are right to be concerned about quantity, quality control on creatine products has been tightened to remain as strong as ever. The quality of a creatine product purchased in the United States will not be affected by ingredient shortages. Manufacturers are required to follow the policies imposed by the FDA. Brands must test and provide evidence that the product meets safety specifications.
What is a risk is that consumers accidentally buy counterfeit products. Although this largely occurs in more remote regions to which the leading providers struggle to ship. So if we’re looking for a reliable creatine powder or our favorite pre-workout contains a proprietary blend, we don’t need to worry. The wallet may take a beating considering creatine is an essential part of supplementation, but the product should work as well as ever.
