Counterfeit sports nutrition: facts and myths

Author: Purik Kirill - manager of the sports nutrition store Atletic-Food.
2013-12-15

Many people who regularly visit sports nutrition stores have heard about counterfeits among sports supplements. This particularly concerns powdered mixes: proteins and gainers. It can be confidently said that today, counterfeits in sports nutrition are a myth. This myth is more a construct of the marketing strategy of online stores, which state on their main page: "We only work with official suppliers. Our store guarantees against counterfeits." There is a tendency for consumers in Russia to be quite distrustful, especially towards the internet. Therefore, many people fall for such tricks and believe that there are a large number of counterfeits in the sports nutrition market.

Do you still not believe what has been said above? And do you think we are pursuing the interests of a store that sells counterfeit products?

How profitable is it to counterfeit sports nutrition?

Firstly, the process of manufacturing powdered mixes is quite labor-intensive, so it is impossible to counterfeit protein powder or gainer. But let’s suppose that you don’t need to counterfeit the powder; you can buy it in bulk much cheaper and simply make a can. However, doing this is also not easy; producing a can + label and protective membrane with a cap is very expensive. To obtain a favorable manufacturing price for the can, you need to place a large order. Plastic manufacturing plants only take on batches of at least 10,000 pieces to ensure lower costs.

Let’s assume you have manufactured cans and labels, identical to those from the real manufacturer. Next, you would need to buy the powder. It has to be dispensed. It is well known that protein powder is sold without flavor. You will need to mix it with flavor additives + add coloring. This is also a labor-intensive process, and performing this procedure on 10,000 cans is quite complex. At a minimum, you would need to rent a separate large space with 3-4 workers. Additionally, you would need equipment for hermetic packaging.

In summary, the process of counterfeiting just one type of product would incur enormous costs. For example, let’s take average prices. The manufacturing cost for a can with a label, protective membrane, and cap for 10,000 pieces is about 1,000,000 rubles. Furthermore, 1 kg of quality whey isolate sold in bulk costs about 400 rubles. You would need 10,000 kg, assuming each can holds 1 kg. That amounts to 4 million rubles. In total, the startup capital for this "business" would be 5 million rubles, and we haven’t even accounted for the rent of space or worker salaries.

This is simply unprofitable due to the labor-intensive nature of the process and the need for large volumes and expensive equipment, which only official factories have. Thus, factories reduce costs.

But you might ask, why make in large quantities when it's possible to counterfeit 100-200 cans personally at home? Yes, of course, you can. But you would need to buy used protein cans because making new ones wouldn’t be cost-effective. You would need to buy protein in bulk and use coloring and flavor additives yourself, which will also end up being more expensive.

Moreover, you will need to pack everything hermetically.

Then the question arises: where will you sell all of this?

To friends? You can't; they know you, and you can't sell a large batch to them. You need a good store.

But a good store works with official suppliers. If you were to give them a can to try, they would immediately recognize it as a counterfeit, and no one would risk their reputation.

Of course, it's possible to open your own store. But you won't last long, trust me. The sports nutrition field is very well studied by many athletes now. Therefore, it’s simply impossible to deceive customers for long.

But still, where does the information about counterfeits come from? Is there any real basis for it?

Some Facts About Counterfeits

Yes, the information has its roots. And not just marketing. Significant counterfeits were present at the dawn of the sports supplement market in Russia. This happened in Ukraine between 2005 and 2009. Accordingly, in 2009, these Ukrainian "pseudo-manufacturers" were caught. They had actually set up a large workshop for packaging various types of products. In 2013, compared to 2010, the turnover of the sports nutrition market quadrupled.

But how were they caught?

Very simply, official suppliers of American and European manufacturers monitor the market. Any new suppliers of their products are easily eliminated; these small suppliers illegally transport goods since, by law, only official distributors in Russia have the right to import products. Or they do it with permission from the official distributor and the factory. In other words, it’s a monopoly, even though monopolies are prohibited.

What official suppliers are there in Russia?

• №1 The famous Igor Zavyalov - he represents Optimum Nutrition, BSN, Mutant.
• №2 Okfit.ru - who represents Weider, Olimp, Muscletech.
• №3 Vikoniк – SAN.
• №4 TSP-SHOP - representing VPX, MAGNUM, NANON, and accessories.
• And other smaller companies like Multipower and Power System.

In conclusion, it is essential to say that many problems occur for buyers not due to counterfeits, but because of expired supplements. When purchasing, always check the date. Even official distributors sell expired products at significant discounts. For those who have been in this field for a long time, one can recall the story of Rusatlet a few years ago when a massive batch of goods was confiscated at the border with Ukraine. All the products were recognized as counterfeit with altered dates.