Creatine sourcing in 2026.

Creatine monohydrate is the most volume-sensitive ingredient in sports nutrition: a €2/kg price swing on 10 tonnes is real money. The choice is essentially Creapure (AlzChem, Germany) or generic Chinese material. Here's how that breaks down.

Price and MOQ, mid-2026

Creapure vs generic, the real difference

Creapure is patented production process (sarcosine + cyanamide) in Germany with tightly controlled DCD (dicyandiamide) and DHT (dihydrotriazine) impurities. Generic Chinese monohydrate uses the same chemistry but with looser impurity tolerances. In 2024–2025 independent testing programs (Informed Sport, Labdoor) consistently showed Chinese-origin monohydrate > 99% creatine, the impurity gap has narrowed.

Pay the Creapure premium when: your brand is premium, you sell into Informed Sport / banned-substance-tested markets, or your label promise is "made in Germany". Skip it when: you're competing on price in mass channels and accept buying tested batches.

What to test per batch

• Assay: ≥ 99.0% creatine monohydrate by HPLC.
• DCD: ≤ 50 ppm (Creapure spec is < 50; many Chinese batches now match).
• DHT (dihydrotriazine): ≤ 3 ppm.
• Heavy metals: Pb < 1 ppm, As < 1 ppm, Cd < 0.5 ppm, Hg < 0.1 ppm.
• Mesh size: 200 mesh standard, 300+ for premium "micronised" claims.
• Loss on drying: ≤ 0.5%.

Regulatory note

Creatine has an authorised EFSA health claim: "Creatine increases physical performance in successive bursts of short-term, high intensity exercise", conditional on 3 g/day. This is one of the few sports ingredients with a usable EU claim. Use it correctly and you don't need to be vague on the label.