What We Saw at Vitafoods Europe 2022

Highlights

• After the pandemic, consumers are more focused on living a proactive lifestyle.
• New supplement formats, such as gummies, are helping consumers attain more functional benefits. 

Recap of Vitafoods Europe 2022

This year’s Vitafoods Europe set a record, with nearly 700 exhibitors showcasing products and services in support of the nutraceutical industry. Held onsite at Palexpo, in Geneva, Switzerland, attendees from 126 countries came together between May 10 and 12, while the online option welcomed remote attendees from May 2 to 13.

A number of themes emerged from this year’s sessions, including mental wellness and ingredients to support a balanced mood. Digestive health was another theme, with a focus on probiotics and the influence of the gut-brain axis on mental health. Sports and active nutrition for whole-body fitness was also a key topic, as well as beauty-from-within ingredients like collagen.

Top Trends We Saw at Vitafoods Europe

Our time at the show gave us a front-row view of some important trends gaining traction in nutraceuticals. Here are our insights into the top trends at Vitafoods Europe 2022:

1. Proactive Health

Companies are seeing consumer interests shift from reactive to proactive health. Consumers’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic has evolved from a short-term reaction of boosting health to a new focus on achieving a long-term, healthy lifestyle. Immune, digestive, heart, and cognitive health are some of the key areas for them since these areas help address overall health. 

Lifestyle improvements many consumers have made include more exercise, a healthier diet, better sleep habits, and taking nutritional supplements. At the same time, consumers are looking for help in supporting these changes to make a healthy lifestyle easier to sustain. This is creating new demand for convenient, tasty solutions such as functional beverages and foods with craveable flavors that can fit into the daily routine.

2. Beyond Pills: Gummies

Consumers are also interested in fun alternative supplement formats to meet their wellness needs. At the show, we saw formats such as chocolates, ready-to-mix powders, and gummies—lots of gummies. Gummies are easy to integrate into everyday life, child-friendly, and a little treat to reward self-care.
While gummy vitamins were prevalent, we also saw gummies with collagen, DHA, and ginseng. Some gummy companies are focusing on benefits in their messaging rather than conditions to create an emotional connection. Examples include Kos Kiss Your Blues Away and Olly Hello Happy gummy supplements. Unlike other Olly products, Hello Happy comes in a gummy worm format to deliver an extra boost of happiness.

We’ll See You Soon

We hope you got the chance to attend Vitafoods 2022, but if not, you can catch up with us at the next show. We’d love to discuss your next project and share our insights on ingredient trends that can help make your product a success. Our custom nutrient premix solutions provide the perfect opportunity to add a unique blend of health and wellness ingredients to your supplement, beverage, or food that will make your product stand out.