Sports nutrition used to make you work around the supplement. Scoop the powder, find a shaker, add water, remember the tub and hope you packed everything before leaving the house.
That hasn't disappeared, but the category around it is changing quickly. Creatine now comes as gummies and chews. Protein and pre-workout come in single-serve sachets. Hydration can come in sticks or ready-to-drink formats. Even products that were traditionally sold almost entirely as tubs of powder are being redesigned around portability and ease of use.
The interesting part isn't that one format is replacing another. It's that convenience has become part of the product itself.
Why supplement formats are changing
Recent industry coverage points in the same direction. NutraIngredients described 2026 active-nutrition launches as increasingly focused on on-the-go formats, with stick packs, sachets, chews and gummies appearing alongside traditional powders. Its reporting on supplement delivery formats also found that European preferences are becoming more context-specific rather than one format winning across every category.
That makes sense. The most convenient format depends on what you're taking and when you're taking it. A large tub of whey works perfectly well at home. A single sachet is easier to throw into a gym bag. Powdered creatine remains simple and familiar, but a chew or gummy removes the shaker and measuring entirely.
Creatine is probably the clearest example
Creatine has spent years being associated with a tub of white powder. In 2026, that's only one version of the category.
We're now seeing gummies, chewable tablets and dry-scoop formats sitting alongside standard creatine monohydrate. On Muscle Supply, that includes products such as OxyShred Creatine Gummies, Per4m Creatine Gummies and Mutant Creatine Bytz.
FoodNavigator highlighted the same wider shift in 2026, noting creatine appearing in gummies, drinks and sachets as the ingredient moves beyond the traditional powder-and-shaker format.
None of that makes powder obsolete. It simply gives people more ways to fit the same type of supplement into their routine.
Samples and sachets solve a different convenience problem
Single serves aren't only about carrying less. They also reduce the commitment involved in trying something new.
That's particularly obvious with protein. Instead of buying a full tub and discovering after two shakes that you don't like the flavour, a sachet lets you try one serving first. The same idea now stretches into pre-workout, clear whey, hydration and even Cream of Rice.
We've seen that behaviour very clearly in our own store. In the 365 days ending 26 September 2026, Per4m Advanced Whey Protein Sample sachets appeared in 7,711 Muscle Supply orders, making the sample product our most frequently ordered product line over that period.
That doesn't prove everybody prefers sachets to tubs. Plenty of those customers go on to buy full-size products, and the two formats serve different jobs. But it does show how significant the low-commitment, single-serve format has become for product discovery.
Ready-to-drink products remove preparation altogether
At the other end of the convenience spectrum are products that don't need mixing at all.
Ready-to-drink energy and performance drinks turn something that would traditionally involve powder, water and a shaker into a grab-and-go product. Industry research reported by FoodNavigator in July 2026 also identified convenience, particularly portable and ready-to-drink formats, as one of the attributes consumers value in sports nutrition.
Again, that doesn't mean RTDs are automatically better. They're simply built for a different occasion.
Convenience isn't the same thing as quality
This is where the trend needs a bit of perspective.
A gummy isn't automatically better than a powder because it's easier to take. A sachet isn't automatically better value than a large tub. And a ready-to-drink product isn't automatically the best choice just because you don't need to mix it.
The useful comparison is still the boring one: look at the actual serving, ingredients and amount of the ingredient you're buying. Format tells you how convenient something is to use; it doesn't tell you whether the formula is right for you.
The future probably isn't one winning format
The direction of travel looks less like “gummies replace powders” and more like supplements becoming available in whatever format fits the occasion.
Powders still make sense when you're using a product regularly at home. Samples and single serves make sense when you're experimenting or travelling. Gummies and chews appeal when you want something you can take without mixing. RTDs work when immediate convenience matters most.
That's a bigger change than it first appears. Sports nutrition is moving away from asking customers to build their routine around a supplement and towards building supplements that fit around the routine they already have.
Sources and methodology
Industry context was checked against 2026 reporting from NutraIngredients on active-nutrition launches, its supplement delivery-format analysis, and FoodNavigator's July 2026 sports-nutrition analysis.
Want to compare more options? Browse our creatine range.
Muscle Supply order figure covers the 365 days ending 26 September 2026 and counts orders containing the product, not individual units. Our store data describes Muscle Supply customer behaviour and should not be treated as a survey of the wider UK market.
