Rousselot and Papendal began collaborating on various R&D projects relating to sports nutrition in 2015. The collaboration evolved further in 2019, with Rousselot becoming Papendal’s official supplier of collagen peptides, providing Dutch athletes with high quality nutritional support. In addition to continuing their partnership, Rousselot will also supply Papendal’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes with Peptan® as they prepare for the Paris 2024 summer games. Peptan is the company’s leading range of collagen peptide solutions and is recognized to reduce post-exercise recovery times.(2)

“We are delighted to carry on our partnership with Papendal, as we continue to innovate our collagen peptide products for use at their exceptional training facility in the Netherlands,” said Randall C. Stuewe, Chairman and CEO of Darling Ingredients. “We are proud to promote Peptan, Rousselot’s premier range of collagen solutions delivering high performance results to elite athletes.”

“For decades we’ve worked to discover new ways to promote health and wellbeing through our high-quality and science-backed ingredients,” comments Gaetan Noiret, Global Director, Rousselot Health & Nutrition. “Our collaboration with Papendal has allowed us to take this commitment to the next level, with real-world data on the benefits Peptan collagen peptides offer elite athletes, and potential applications in the broader active nutrition market. We’re looking forward to furthering this spirit of collaboration through expert knowledge sharing, co-promotional activities and long-term application development, while supporting Papendal’s Olympic candidates with our premium collagen solutions.”

Spotlight on sports recovery

The announcement of Rousselot’s continued collaboration with Papendal comes at a time when interest in sports recovery solutions is at an all-time high among scientists, professional sportspeople and the general public. Bioactive collagen peptide ingredients like Rousselot’s Peptan, have been shown to help reduce muscle soreness, support muscle repair and accelerate recovery times, helping athletes train harder with fewer breaks to their training schedules.(3) Increased awareness of the performance benefits offered by collagen ingredients is driving strong growth in the sports nutrition market. Indeed, over a third of global consumers who purchase sports performance supplements do so to aid recovery.(4) At the same time, nutritional products containing protein are predicted to deliver a 9.7% CAGR growth rate between 2020 – 2025.(5)

Fueling the next generation of sporting success

Following the success of the partnership in the lead up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games, the extended collaboration will see Rousselot working in close partnership with Papendal’s dieticians and chefs to educate the athletes – and the general public – on the central role collagen plays in maintaining healthy bones, skin, muscles and joints.

 “From its beginnings as an R&D collaboration, to our work today providing practical nutritional guidance, we’re excited see how we can continue supporting our athletes and dieticians through our collaboration with Rousselot”, states Dr. Jeroen Wouters, Innovation Manager Sport & Nutrition at Papendal. “Athletes will continue to be offered Peptan collagen peptides at our Topsport Restaurant in a range of formats, including an orange juice drink, powder supplements and a travel sized dose for nutrition on-the-go. Here, sportspeople can also attend training sessions hosted by our dieticians, drawing on the latest insights provided by Rousselot’s nutrition experts, that will help them better understand the role proper sports nutrition plays in fueling sporting excellence”.(6)

To learn more about Peptan and its potential as an all-natural sports nutrition solution, visit: https://www.peptan.com/sports-nutrition/

(1) Collagen, Market estimates and trend analysis, 2022 Grand View Research.

(2) Clifford et al., ‘The effects of collagen peptides on muscle damage, inflammation and bone turnover following exercise: a randomized, controlled trial’, Amino Acids, no. 51, pg. 691-704.

(3) Ibid, Clifford et al

(4) Euromonitor, International Health and Nutrition Survey, 2019

(5) Euromonitor: Research Dive, Impact Analysis of COVID-19 on Sports Nutrition and Supplements market

(6) Shaw G, Lee-Barthel A, Ross ML, Wang B, Baar K. Vitamin C-enriched gelatin supplementation before intermittent activity augments collagen synthesis. Am J Clin Nutr. 2017;105(1):136-143. doi:10.3945/ajcn.116.138594 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5183725/

(7) Ibid, Global Gelatin Market Insights Forecast to 2026