Upcoming Targets for Functional Products

Highlights

• Consumers show a growing interest in preventive health products, such as supplements.
• Gut health, hormone support, and mood are key areas ahead for supplements.
• New uses of ingredients and claims are integral to expanding these areas.

Growing Interest in Functional Products for Preventive Health

Consumers’ interest in preventative health products is on the rise, with supplements playing an important role. Supplements have a particularly strong appeal since they allow consumers to choose products targeted to their specific concerns for a highly personalized approach.

Staying attuned to consumers’ health and wellness priorities as they evolve—and selecting the most effective ingredients and relevant claims—will help supplement brands continue to be responsive to their consumers’ needs. 

Top 3 Supplement Trends Ahead

As more consumers shift their focus toward preventative health, they are looking at factors like diet, exercise, sleep, and stress management and taking proactive steps to improve their habits where they can. These consumers are not seeking supplements for a quick fix but rather to support an ongoing lifestyle of health and wellness. This includes support for three trending concerns: gut health, hormone balance, and mood.

1. Gut Health

Gut health is a concern across many age groups. A variety of factors can influence gut health—from diet to stress to medications (both prescription and over-the-counter). Newer developments in this area include upcycled fibers and prebiotics for sustainability, as well as research into creating "precision" prebiotics and probiotics. 

2. Hormone Support

An emerging area is hormone support supplements that target different life stages (such as adolescence, pregnancy, and menopause). Hormone fluctuations impact many aspects of health, including mood, weight, and skin appearance. Mintel reports that about one in six UK consumers agree hormone fluctuations likely have a negative impact on appearance, indicating hormone supplements for beauty represent an opportunity worth exploring.¹

3. Mood Boosting and Relaxation

Alcohol moderation, a current trend in the US and Europe, is making space for supplements that can offer similar functional effects. While L-theanine (for mood support and calming) rose to the top as the fastest-growing supplement ingredient from 2017 to 2022 (CAGR +102%),² the latest mood supplements rely on botanicals and medicinal mushrooms. One example is First Person’s Golden Hour supplement, recommended as an alcohol alternative that supports confidence, mood, and socializing by boosting oxytocin.

Learn more about the most popular mood-boosting ingredients.

Supplement Ingredients for Holistic Wellness

As consumers’ focus on preventive health strengthens and new research emerges, expect new opportunities to support your consumers’ ongoing wellness journey in a more integrative way. Educating consumers on these connections—for example, that gut health impacts mood and immunity, stress affects sleep and weight, and hormones influence appearance and mood—is a good way to direct their attention to the comprehensive benefits your supplement has to offer. 

Using the right ingredients to address the need is another component of a successful supplement product that keeps consumers coming back. At Glanbia Nutritionals, we offer our customers a wide range of supplement ingredients—from micronutrients to wellness bioactives to custom premix solutions—that are functionally optimized for better handling and stability. 

Contact us to learn how we can support your next supplement with our market insights, formulation expertise, and functional ingredients.

References

1. Mintel, The Future of Vitamins, Minerals, and Supplements: 2023, June 2023.

2. Innova, Immune Health Trends, November 2022.