Feeding frenzy about to get even bigger as Welsh nutrition company takes on the world

IF you haven’t already heard of PAS - or Pro Athlete Supplementation to use its full name - then you soon will.

For they’ve got big plans. More than 13 years ago, Olympic gold medallist Darren Campbell and sports nutritionist Jon Williams who works for the Welsh rugby team - set up the company using £30,000.

Now, they supply some of the biggest professional sports outfits in the world, including teams in the NFL, Premier League, MLS, Ligue 1 and a myriad of international teams in both rugby and football.

PAS have been the official supplier to the Welsh Rugby Union for years and have a vice-like grip on professional sport in Wales, supplying all four pro rugby teams, Cardiff City and Swansea City, while also fuelling the 2017 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand. They’ve also just shipped stacks of supplements out to Japan for Wales ahead of the Rugby World Cup.

They may operate out of an industrial estate in Tredegar, Blaenau Gwent, but this is no small business and they won’t shout about it. The company does very little advertising, but the products speak for themselves.

“I think it speaks volumes about the product for us to get into an MLS team”, former sprinter Campbell explains.

“That’s through a relationship that has been built over 10 years.

“We supplied Chelsea, Didier Drogba used the products, he goes to the MLS, then he starts ordering the products from here to be shipped over to his team.

“Sometimes you come in here and every day feels like a win. One day I came in and an NFL team was ordering a large amount of product.

“In business, you’re always going to have downs but you have to keep hold of those wins. It’s not always about publicising it but for us as a team, that’s the motivation.

“If it’s good enough for an NFL team, you’re clearly going in the right direction.”

Campbell might be underplaying it.

When the company was set up over a decade ago, they worked out of a warehouse in Treforest that had no heating.

This year, they are expecting a turnover of £2million after a record pre-season.

They have recently signed 11 new clubs and currently ship to 17 countries worldwide.

One of the most exciting developments currently is the links the company has established in the Gulf region, particularly with the Aspetar sports facility in Qatar, ahead of the upcoming Athletics World Championships and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

“In terms of export, Aspetar is definitely one of our bigger export clients

and it’s somebody we’ve worked with since 2014,” Williams says.

“They’re quite unique really in terms of the Gulf countries. They’ve been really forward-thinking in driving sports nutrition and trying to provide, not only the best products for their athletes, but ensuring everything is Informed-Sport (a certification programme that ensures all products carrying their label are safe and legal) and tested.

“Those sort of protocols are not really a feature out there, like they are in the UK. So they’ve been working with us to push that, especially with the World Athletics Championships coming up.

“It’s been a big focus for them, having the right product on site for all athletes going forward.

“We’re really pleased to provide that for them. It’s a relationship we’re building and hopefully we can do more business moving forward.”

In what is a saturated market that has been monopolised by big brands for some time, they’ve muscled into the professional sector in a big way.

Their reputation, their product and their willingness to go the extra mile for clients - Campbell tells a story of how he once loaded up his car and drove to Reading at short notice to ensures supplements arrived in time - has taken care of that.

As well as teams, they also have brand ambassadors that include former Wales and Lions skipper Sam Warburton, Toulon scrum-half Rhys Webb and England prop Joe Marler, among others.

And after virtually all of their revenue has been generated through professional sport, that’s all about to change. Now, they’re going after the consumer market.

“Sports nutrition is a huge business - $60billion worldwide,” said Williams.

“At the moment, our turnover is £1.4million and that’s all in pro sport.

“What we’re looking to do now is really allow the consumer to get the benefit from our experiences in terms of the products we’ve formulated, so they can use them to maximise their own performances.

“We’re really looking to push our products into that retail market, which is constantly growing, not only in the UK but also Europe and globally.

“We’ve got a full range of products and there’s something to meet everybody’s requirements in the area of performance nutrition.”

What it’s like to eat and train like a pro rugby player

You might have started seeing PAS’ products at your local gym and you’ll soon be seeing a lot more of it.

They are now selling on Amazon, have signed a deal with food delivery service Musclefood and will be appearing in shops and supermarkets nationwide.

They’ve also heavily invested in their website as they bid to make a splash in the consumer market, the way they’ve done in pro sport.

“It’s a very exciting time for the business,” beams Campbell.

“For 13 years, we’ve only ever tried to do things the right way.

“We don’t do a lot of advertising but you see those Amazon sales increasing, slowly but surely.

“We know we produce fantastic products because the best athletes in the world use them but the biggest fear was whether or not that would filter into the general public - will they understand the benefits?

“But people are more knowledgeable than ever before and they will go and search for the best products.

“That really does create excitement for me. It’s not solely about advertising.

“People want quality and they’ll pay for that quality.

“When I see the people that purchase from us, I know we’ve got quality because they’re the top sports people in the world.”

Williams’ reputation in the industry is also responsible for a lot.

The nutritionist and the sprinter have forged a relationship built on decades of success, originating from when the pair worked together during Campbell’s competing days.

A trust developed over years of partnership, that saw Campbell win Olympic gold at the 2004 games in Athens. That meant when Williams pitched a business idea to set-up a