PricePlow’s 2020 Supplement Industry Awards

In late December 2020, Team PricePlow connected to record our 2020 Supplement Industry Awards.

You can listen to a one long podcast (subscribe to the PricePlow Podcast using the links below) or watch each separate video on YouTube below.

Enjoy and congratulations to all companies that were discussed!

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• 2020 Supplement Industry Recap

  It goes without saying that 2020 was a wild year. But what did that mean for the supplement industry? What brands (and stores) were best-positioned, and which ones weren’t?

  Before getting into specific awards, Team PricePlow discusses the year at large in their 2020 supplement industry recap video below:

  

• 2020 Brand of the Year: Ghost

  

  Ghost Energy really brought this one home, but there was so much more than just this…

  This year, there really wasn’t much of an argument. One brand stood above all others in terms of impact on the industry, with a ton of extremely strong product and flavor launches on a consistent basis. That brand was GHOST Lifestyle.

  With everything ranging from incredibly-formulated skin care support (Ghost Glow) to multivitamins (Ghost Multi) and greens (Ghost Greens) to incredible Ghost Whey protein flavors (and even their High Protein Hot Cocoa Mix) to energy drinks (Ghost Energy) and a gaming supplement (Ghost Gamer), this brand really came of age in 2020.

  

  Ghost was the topic of conversation with nearly every other brand, and they were clearly ready to run the table, regardless of whatever else happened in 2020. At this clip, expect the same, if not more, in 2021.

  In terms of the competition, we loved NutraBio’s community outreach with their First Response initiative, and one thing we realized over the course of the rest of our filming was that CORE Nutritionals made a solid case for themselves as well, as did the brand discussed next:

• 2020 Breakout Brand of the Year: Glaxon

  

  When they started posting images like this, we knew it’d be different.

  At the end of 2019, we said that Glaxon would be the “Brand to Watch in 2020” (YouTube video here), and that was right on the money. Simply put, the “Goons” broke out.

  A brand that made some noise at the end of 2019 with a very hard-hitting Specimen pre workout started making waves in the retail scene, and it was clear they were on to something. They were putting out strong and very uniquely formulated supplements that simply kicked. And it only got better over the course of the year, as you can see on our Glaxon News page.

  

  Other potentials were the Revive MD / RAW Nutrition duo, which are owned by the same team. They’ve upended overall health supplements with Revive and are now doing the same in sports supplements with RAW.

• 2020 Rookie of the Year: HOSSTILE

  When HOSSTILE supplements was announced by Fouad Abiad, there was a surge of excitement. Fouad’s incredibly popular Real Bodybuilding podcast and online content needed an “anchor” to sink, and HOSSTILE was it.

  The excitement was even greater when the HOSSTILITY pre workout supplement was unveiled, and it’s been off to the races ever since:

  

  Other well-performing rookies were RAW Nutrition (also mentioned above), HD Muscle, and BEAM.

• 2020 Pre Workout Supplement of the Year: Glaxon Specimen (V2 formula)

  

  Available in yohimbe (“Yo-Yo”) and non-yohimbe formulas but able to get you going either way!

  Nothing gets people fired up more than a good pre workout – literally and figuratively. But what company brought innovation to an over-saturated market?

  The main contenders were the aforementioned Hosstile Supplements Hosstility and Glaxon Specimen (V2), the updated Core Nutritionals CORE FURY, and Alpha Lion SuperHuman Burn.

  SuperHuman Burn was Mike’s clear favorite, but he yielded since it’s a more expensive fat burning pre workout that has some spice to it, which won’t hit enough demographics.

  The conversation came down to CORE Fury and Specimen, both incredible supplements. Specimen won on innovation, feel, taste, and “doing more with less caffeine”. It also has two versions available — a harder-hitting one with a dual yohimbine blend (“Yo-Yo”), and one without. But those looking for an all-in-one pre workout without beta alanine would love both CORE Fury and Hosstility.

  

• Flavor System of the Year (non-protein): BEAM Pre Workout (Mango Lime)

  

  BEAM is here to provide exceptional products to help you Be Amazing.

  Flavors aren’t everything, but in this day and age, there’s countless incredible formulas that also taste great. This means brands really can’t release poor-tasting products anymore if they want repeat sales (although we’ve always said that if a formula is good enough, we’ll drink it regardless).

  2020 brought some interesting flavor systems, including Myprotein’s THE Pre Workout (Black Cherry Vanilla – Mike’s favorite), Action Nutrition BOLT (Strawberry Pineapple Cooler), C4 Smart Energy (Black Cherry), and Ghost Amino (Iced Tea Lemonade).

  But this year, the cake was taken by newcomer BEAM Pre Workout, whose Mango Lime flavored pre workout was rock solid and got pushed over the top!

  

• 2020 Protein of the Year: CORE Nutritionals (Core Post Hot Cocoa)

  So many great proteins this year, including NutraBio’s Banana Cream Pie Classic Whey and Muscle Matrix Freedom Fetti, Ghost Whey’s Nutter Butter, and the updated Kaged Muscle Micropure Whey Protein Isolate systems.

  But this year, the show was completely stolen by CORE Nutritionals, especially the revamped CORE Post‘s Hot Cocoa flavor! But they didn’t stop there, with some great releases of CORE Iso and CORE Pro as well! Yet it was really CORE Post that dominated Ben’s arsenal.

  

  Doug Miller said he didn’t want to become a protein company… but with these products and “CORE Balls”, which we’ll discuss next, he may just need to roll with the success!

• 2020 Functional Food of the Year: Myprotein Crispy Wafers

  

  Have you tried Myprotein’s newest functional food?!

  The “Functional Foods” niche began as protein bars, but now encompass so much more. These are packaged foods that skirt the line between “food” and “supplement”, providing added health benefits but typically found in a food form factor.

  There have been many incredible releases over the years, and 2020 was no different. The top two contenders came down to Myprotein’s Snack Series, specifically their Crispy Wafers, and the humorously-named but seriously-formulated CORE Balls.

  This one was interesting because Ben got a live tasting of Crispy Wafers… and if you watch his reaction in the first few seconds of the video below, you’ll see why Myprotein brought them home:

  

  Long story short? “These are INCREDIBLE”. Congratulations to Myprotein!

• 2020 General Supplement of the Year: Glaxon Serenity

  

  The combination of four potent ingredients and DR Caps, makes for maximum benefits!

  2020 was a year like no other, and while we saw a ton of immunity supplements, our “general” supplement category that goes to the biggest innovation was something a bit more unique. An anti-stress supplement.

  In a time when everyone was on edge, and the “immunity situation” mainly figured out by those following the actual science, success in the year often came down to handling stress and anxiety. One supplement stood above all others, and that was Glaxon Serenity.

  Most of us have a handle on pre workout, proteins, vitamins, etc. But the most unique question fielded behind the scenes was, “What will make me yell at my kids less?” The answer to that was Serenity, an anti-stress supplement that simply takes the edge off like you won’t believe until you try it.

  

  What a year — and we might need something twice as strong for 2021.

• 2020 Community of the Year: Axe & Sledge

  

  Nobody brings more smiles to the supplement industry than Seth Feroce!

  Axe & Sledge had a phenomenal year. In just a few years, Seth Feroce, Bobby Dautrich, Mike Rhoten, and Patrick Williams were able to create a community that’s incredibly strong, loyal, and supportive.

  Ben goes on a little bit of a “tear” talking about the incredible brand and community they’ve put together. Whenever he wears any Axe & Sledge or All-American Roughneck apparel in public, someone always stops to talk with him about the brands. This just goes to show that Axe & Sledge is making a very positive impact on people from all over the world.

  They also put out weekly podcasts (HWMF Podcast), training videos, and ads that would make anyone laugh. Undoubtedly, Axe & Sledge works hard and plays even harder! Giving them this award just shows our appreciation for what they are doing and will continue to do in 2021:

  

  In addition, they put out some fantastic stuff, which is covered on our Axe & Sledge news page.

• 2020 Greens of the Year: Choose Your Own Adventure

  A ton of Greens formulas came out in 2020, and each brought their own spin. For instance, Revive MD’s Daily Greens focus on gut health, Glaxon Greens add mushrooms and boost chlorophyll, Ghost Greens brought improved taste with extra “reds”, and possibly best of all, Animal Greens simply bring it in “Pak” form so that you don’t have to taste them!

  

  But ultimately, this one has no “best” because what you’re looking for in a greens powder depends on what you want and need!

• 2020 Vegan Protein of the Year: Kaged Muscle Plantein

  For a decade, we’ve been saying that the brands that make pea protein not taste like peas are going to do extraordinarily well. The past couple of years have been great, but 2020 took things to a new level.

  The biggest gamechanger, without even a doubt, was from Kaged Muscle Plantein, thanks in part to ioPea, a new aborption-enhancing technology for plant proteins that we believe may have also enhanced the flavor!

  

  While plant protein shakes still aren’t dairy-like “milkshakes”, they’ve gotten close enough. The next issue was that many plant proteins still didn’t have as great of bioavailability, digestibility, or amino uptake. That also got changed thanks to Ingredient Optimized, creators of ioPea.

• Brands to Watch in 2021: Alpha Prime Supps

  To close out 2020, it was time to look ahead to 2021, a year that we’re confident will be an enlightening and amazing year.

  Although we talked about several different sports nutrition companies, such as Alpha Lion, HD Muscle, Hosstile, NutraBio, Ghost, and Glaxon, those are companies most enthusiasts already know to watch for. So the one we’re keeping an eye out for is Alpha Prime Supps!

  

  In 2020, the brand revamped its entire product line with some unique and impressive supplements. To back it up, they also expanded their team by signing several elite athletes, such as Ben Chow.

  Alpha Prime is looking to do even bigger and better things in 2021, so be on the lookout for what they have coming!

With that, we close down the darkly subverted year that was 2020, and look ahead to the light of 2021. As always, stay tuned to The PricePlow Blog, the PricePlow Podcast, @PricePlow on Instagram, and and PricePlow’s YouTube channel!