No longer simply known as that chalky powder gym bros take for bigger muscles…creatine is currently undergoing a significant metamorphosis. Though, what happens during this final stage could forever define the creatine market! While creatine was first discovered in muscle tissue in 1832, it took another 160 years before a new era of sports nutrition was created from the pivotal creatine supplementation human study conducted by Dr. Roger Harris. And after Linford Christie, the Barcelona Olympic Games gold medal winning sprinter at 100 meters, mentioned the powerful effects of creatine supplementation in an August 1992 newspaper article...the first commercial creatine supplement hit retail store shelves a year later and quickly gained popularity and widespread adoption among male athletes and fitness enthusiasts. Though, over the next almost quarter-century…it was a relatively boring growth period for the creatine market, with continued research solidifying the ingredient’s effectiveness in muscle strength enhancement. Yet, it’s this pupation developmental stage, which creatine has been undergoing lately…that very well could be what leads to substantial change across the marketplace, as the scientific flywheel is still spinning quickly! And that’s because while many nutraceutical ingredients were popularized within that shadowy niche of sports nutrition, an ever-growing body of research with positive results has broadened use cases and expanded demographics…making them almost must-have staples for everyone. Nevertheless, researchers proving through studies that this nutraceutical ingredient has more than one purpose…isn’t all that commercially impactful when you consider that only a microscopic percentage of the consumer market peruses PubMed frequently. Said another way…when a new creatine study gets published on the Internet, does it make a sales register ring? If you picked up on my adaption of the “tree falls in the forest” philosophical thought experiment, then you might guess where I’m going next…as I believe the final “adult” metamorphic stage will be defined by CPG entrepreneurs translating the evolving scientific flywheel of creatine into business ventures. By leveraging a consumer-centric strategic process of questioning, thinking, and subsequently experimenting across various go-to-market roadmaps…entrepreneurs can (and will) successfully reframe creatine, broaden use cases, and discover many new audiences beyond the gym. Though, the final portion of my latest first principles content will explore a few areas that will undoubtedly drive the future of the creatine market…from branding to formats (i.e. creatine gummies) and broadened use cases (and occasions).