CurraNZ® Wins Sports Nutrition Product of the Year at NutraIngredients-USA Awards 2026, Completing an Unprecedented Second 'Grand Slam'

We believe CurraNZ Original has made history as the only brand to win six NutraIngredients awards - twice across all three regions - with judges declaring it 'a brand that walks the talk'

CurraNZ®, the award-winning New Zealand blackcurrant extract supplement from Health Currancy Ltd (UK) and CurraNZ Ltd (NZ), has been crowned Sports Nutrition Product of the Year at the 2026 NutraIngredients-USA Awards - the most prestigious recognition in the global nutraceutical industry.

The win, announced on 13 July at an awards ceremony in Chicago, marks the brand's sixth NutraIngredients title and completes a second consecutive 'Grand Slam' - sweeping all three regional awards consecutively for the second time in the brand's history.

About NutraIngredients Awards - The 'Oscars' of the Nutraceutical World

The NutraIngredients Awards are widely regarded as the gold standard of independent recognition in the global nutrition and dietary supplement industry. Organised by NutraIngredients - the world's leading news platform for functional food and supplements - the awards span three key regions: Asia, Europe and the USA, and honour the best and brightest in ingredients, finished products, companies, people and initiatives.

Entries are judged by independent expert panels, and competition attracts record numbers of global entrants each cycle — the 2026 USA edition received the highest number of entries in its history.

An Unprecedented Double Grand Slam

CurraNZ's sixth NutraIngredients Sports Nutrition Product of the Year award follows a remarkable sequence of back-to-back regional wins:

• NutraIngredients-Asia 2020 — Sports Nutrition Product of the Year
• NutraIngredients-USA 2021 — Sports Nutrition Product of the Year
• NutraIngredients-Europe 2022 — Sports Nutrition Product of the Year (completing first Grand Slam)
• NutraIngredients-Asia 2025 — Sports Nutrition Product of the Year (September, Bangkok)
• NutraIngredients-Europe 2026 — Sports Nutrition Product of the Year (May, Barcelona)
• NutraIngredients-USA 2026 — Sports Nutrition Product of the Year (July, Chicago)

The brand is believed to be the only small, boutique company to have achieved six NutraIngredients wins, let alone two complete Grand Slams across all three regions. 

Judges' Verdict: 'This is a brand that walks the talk'

The independent judging panel praised CurraNZ across multiple dimensions of excellence:

"The judges selected CurraNZ for its strong scientific foundation, ongoing investment in research and commitment to quality and innovation. They highlighted the brand's use of third-party Informed Sport testing, continued delivery format development and convenient, proven capsule format."

Judges also pointed to CurraNZ's broad appeal across elite athletes, everyday active consumers and military applications, noting that its wide-ranging mechanistic benefits give it significant game-changing potential in sports nutrition. As one judge put it, 'This is a brand that walks the talk'."

The panel's recognition of CurraNZ's breadth of application - from elite sport and military use to everyday active consumers reflects a decade of investment in gold-standard human clinical science.

To date, over 60 peer-reviewed studies have been published on the proprietary New Zealand Blackcurrant Anthocyanin Extract (Enzans®), spanning endurance performance, fat metabolism, muscle recovery, cardiovascular health and cognitive function.

A landmark meta-analysis published in the Journal of Dietary Supplements in 2026 confirmed CurraNZ increases fat oxidation during exercise by 0.042 g/min across 15 controlled human trials.

A Decade of Science, Validated by the Industry's Highest Honour

CurraNZ is a first-to-market proprietary supplement harnessing the unique properties of New Zealand blackcurrants — among the most anthocyanin-dense fruits in the world.

The capsule format delivers a standardised, clinically validated dose of Enzans® — the bioactive blackcurrant anthocyanin extract — and is certified by Informed Sport, the world's leading supplement testing programme for elite athletes.

The product is used by world-class sports teams and recreational athletes across the globe, and is available through CurraNZ's direct-to-consumer channels in the UK, USA and internationally.

Quote from Fleur Cushman, Founder & Managing Director, Health Currancy Ltd

"Winning our sixth NutraIngredients award - and our second Grand Slam - is a milestone that felt almost unimaginable when we started this journey with New Zealand blackcurrant 15 years ago," says Founder Fleur Cushman, pictured above (second right), when accepting the European award in May.

“The judge's comment that CurraNZ 'walks the talk' is the most meaningful recognition we could receive, because that is exactly what we have always striven to be: a brand built on the most rigorous science, with real results for real people.

"When we entered these awards in Asia, Europe and the USA,  we made a deliberate choice to lead with the most differentiating research we have ever had. Two landmark pieces of science stood out.

“The first is our 15-study meta-analysis, published in the Journal of Dietary Supplements, which pools every controlled human trial conducted exclusively on CurraNZ to confirm that it increases fat oxidation by 0.042 g/min and reduces carbohydrate oxidation by 0.099 g/min during exercise — the highest tier of scientific evidence.

“The second is extraordinary: a muscle biopsy study by Liverpool John Moores University showing that CurraNZ increases pre-exercise muscle glycogen storage by a remarkable 39%, and separate data showing it accelerates glycogen resynthesis after exhaustive exercise.

“Together, these findings demonstrate that CurraNZ doesn't just help athletes perform better in the moment - it rebuilds and powers their endurance engine faster.

“To our knowledge, no other polyphenol supplement in the world can make that claim with this level of evidence, and we are extremely proud that the NutraIngredients judges recognised it."

Product's power demonstrated by Team UNO-X Mobility on the Tour De France 

The award announcement coincides with a landmark week for the brand's visibility on the world stage. Team Uno-X Mobility, the Scandinavian WorldTour cycling team that uses CurraNZ as part of its nutrition programme, secured the maillot jaune - the yellow jersey - at the 2026 Tour de France, the most prestigious race in professional cycling.

Rider Torstein Træen took the race lead, placing the Uno-X squad at the forefront of global sport during the very week CurraNZ was recognised as the world's leading sports nutrition product.

For Health Currancy Ltd, the synchronicity underscores the judges' conclusion that CurraNZ holds "significant game-changing potential in sports nutrition" - a verdict now playing out in real time on the roads of France.