ESSNA

Making a trade association the prominent voice of the sports nutrition industry

Background

ESSNA is the trade association representing the sports nutrition industry in Europe. Membership includes big international sport nutrition brands; smaller specialist companies; ingredients’ suppliers; and national associations.

ESSNA was established to ensure that potentially threatening EU legislation on sports supplements was amended and to improve and protect the image and profile of the sector.

Strategy

Whitehouse provides the full spectrum of secretariat and communications services to ESSNA. In the years since ESSNA was formed, Whitehouse has helped it develop into a prominent trade association that is now the voice of the responsible sports nutrition industry in the UK and Europe. As well as working to ensure any legislation brought forward is proportionate and not damaging to the industry and public, Whitehouse provides public relations and crisis communications support to ESSNA and its members, operates a non-compliance campaign for ESSNA to protect and improve the reputation of the sector, leads on a public-facing educational campaign to ensure consumers are informed, and delivers an annual calendar of ESSNA-led events and conferences that regularly see 100+ attendees from prominent organisations across Europe.

Whitehouse’s work has also resulted in ESSNA doubling its membership, quadrupling its budget and winning several prestigious industry awards.

ESSNA was formed to ensure that a proposed sports nutrition directive accurately reflected the needs of all the athletes that currently use these products. This was seen as a mammoth task and we would not have got off the ground without Chris Whitehouse and his team’s expert advice, direction and support. With their assistance we are now making progress on behalf of the industry that at the outset of this work seemed almost unattainable. On behalf of all the companies that ESSNA represents I would like to extend our thanks.