Editor's Take: Dietary supplements are entering the age of optimization

Over decades of tracking the supplement market by ingredient category, sales channel and condition, New Hope Network's Nutrition Business Journal has seen and shown a variety of storylines. With the 2024 Condition Specific Report, a report that came about with a deeper-than-usual dive into the data to update not just the forecasts but the historical estimates, we see movement in the motivating factors behind consumer actions in the aisles and virtual carts.

Supplement usage always fluctuates between correction, maintenance and optimization, with the former two being the bedrock of the industry. Increasingly, though, optimization is coming into play. Brain Health is a prime example where, within a single condition, the motivations have shifted. Originally a memory play, the condition category has moved significantly toward focus, targeting younger consumers interested in optimizing, or even hacking, their mental functioning.

Broadening the lens to take in all 22 conditions we track at NBJ, we see a move toward optimization—at least, as we bounce back from the COVID-19 years. 

But even a look back to 2019 shows correction leading behavior. Healthy Sleep held the No. 1 growth position, followed by Mood and Mental Health and Eye Health. Cold, Flu and Immunity dominated 2020 growth at an astounding 68%, with Sleep, Mood and General Health rounding out the tops. But by 2022, Fitness and Energy topped the growth chart. In 2023, Fitness and Energy was not only the fastest-growing category, but the largest one—a rare situation as growth is harder to achieve on high volume.

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Brain Health, too, holds a high position for 2023, demonstrating an interest in both physical and mental fitness. This year, at 7.7%, Brain Health hit the top of the growth chart and is expected to remain No. 1 through 2027, which is as far as we forecast. What’s compelling, though, is that Healthy Aging, which held the No. 9 growth position in 2020 and 2021, is expected to climb to the No. 2 growth position next year. Sexual Health, too, is expected to hold a Top 4 growth position beginning next year.

It’s not all optimization, mind you. Mood and Mental Health finds itself in a Top 5 growth position in all but one of the nine years tracked. Menopause and Weight Management also hold strong growth positions. Still, the storyline is noteworthy. Consumers are increasingly turning to supplements to live longer and live better.

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