There were many well-deserving nominees for this year’s Functional Brand Of The Year, including newcomer Inlead Nutrition in Germany, Australia’s Muscle Nation, the international powerhouse Barebells, the legendary Quest Nutrition, and the two-time champion Life Pro Nutrition from Spain. The winner is a brand that genuinely stepped things up this year in innovation, much more than in previous years, is the long-running sports nutrition brand, Quest Nutrition.
Quest Nutrition had the widest variety of high-scale innovations we’d seen, and from a functional food company that made its name on the iconic Quest Protein Bar, it was incredible to see it bring that creativity into other shapes and sizes. The year started with the team reworking its original protein-packed, milkshake-like Quest Protein Shake, giving it an updated look and feel, still bright and colorful, and on the inside, it made the product taste even better.
That was followed by a flurry of extensions and completely new products, including the first flavor of the Quest Frosted Cookies since it came to market many years ago, and we were introduced to Quest Crunchy Protein Puffs, packing a hefty 17g of protein per bag. Another all-new item debuted by the Functional Brand Of The Year in 2024 was Quest Iced Coffee, another high-protein beverage, although this is a little lighter at 10g a bottle and centers around providing an iced coffee experience.
A few other flavor drops filled the year for Quest Nutrition, including a White Chocolate Macadamia Quest Protein Cookie, Birthday Cake Hero Bar, Peanut Butter Coated Candies, and the many seasonal creations in Peppermint Bark and Pumpkin Pie Quest Bars, and the Peppermint Mocha Quest Protein Shake. The other significant drop was the innovative Quest Bake Shop Series, featuring protein muffins and brownies that stood out with whey as the primary source of protein, not collagen, and they offer a texture and consistency that is damn close to the real thing.
Everything that Quest Nutrition did, as is the case with any winner of one of our Brand Of The Year Awards, definitely played into it taking home the title of Functional Brand Of The Year. Stepping into formats it hadn’t touched before, like muffins, brownies, and even iced coffee, was great to see, and it offers something entirely new. 2024 is the most creative we’ve seen Quest get, and we’re hoping this isn’t the end, with 2025 set to bring even more excitement to the industry.
