Nutrition Business Journal

❗❗ ICYMI: All of the Leader's Digest interviews from NBJ Summit are available to watch on-demand! Join host Andrea Donsky for this enlightening series of interviews with industry professionals: ⭐Chief Commercial Officer Ruben M. Valentin from Solutex Corp ⭐VP Alicia Kasch from RIBUS, Inc. ⭐CEO Richard Wang from NuLiv Science ⭐Chief Operating Officer Mike Fortescue from Mitsubishi International Food Ingredients, Inc. ⭐Chief Business Officer Suresh L. from Natural Remedies - Human Health Care ⭐Global Vice President of Strategic Growth & Revenue Management Meeta B. Kratz and Head of Marketing (Americas) Alka Vallabh from Lonza ➡ Watch all of the interviews here: https://lnkd.in/gFAVfuxP

In the mood for supplements: Returned consumer interest fuels the resurgence of sexual health supplements There are a few conditions within the supplement industry that experienced turbulence over the last few years, with the pandemic being the biggest disrupter. Consumer interest and attitudes quickly shift from immunity to sleep to eye health, and then mood and mental health. Another condition that experienced some whiplash in growth was sexual health. In 2019, sexual health was the fourth highest growing condition with 8.9% growth. Then when the pandemic hit, sexual health growth dropped. Whether people were not active or just didn’t need supplement support, growth lowered to just 2.9% in 2020. Consumers also likely chose to spend their money on supplements to address other, perhaps more important concerns like sleep and immunity. NBJ defines the sexual health supplement condition category as products designed to support not just sexual health (arousal or pleasure) but reproductive health. Our estimates also capture ingredients such as saw palmetto, that aren’t specifically labeled for sexual health, but are known for helping reproductive organs and supporting hormonal health. NBJ strives to stay on top of current industry trends while also forecasting what will drive future ones, and by paying attention to conversations on social media platforms and in-depth survey research, we can marry all inputs to get a well-rounded sense of what’s fueling specific categories within the industry. But now interest is back, and NBJ is starting to see sexual health bubble back up. At an estimated $1.25 billion market, NBJ predicts sexual health will yet again be a top growing condition in the supplement industry. In 2024 growth is estimated to reach 6.7% on its way to 7.7% growth by 2027.  Sexual health is indeed one of the “experiential conditions.” Consumers are looking for an improved experience and expect quick results. Look at mood and mental health, the fastest growing condition over the last two years. One of the reasons it grew so fast and took traction is that consumers found noticeable relief with multiple nervous system functions. Sexual health is similar—and related. We’re seeing innovation in sexual health move beyond the mechanics of the sexual parts into the holism of the sexual participants. Mood is at the top of this list. Plus, more men and women are educating themselves on how to address their hormonal concerns, and are becoming more aware of how supplements and natural ingredients can help balance their systems. And like mood and mental health, this is a condition younger consumers are increasingly willing to talk openly about. The sum total of all of this is that sexual health is growing at a healthy rate. One way or another, this is a condition category to keep an eye on. Authored by NBJ's Data Analyst Erika Rommel Craft 👉 Sign up to get these bi-weekly nuggets of wisdom delivered directly to your inbox: https://utm.io/ug4yV

Condition Specific Report points to shift from correction to enhancement Over decades of tracking the supplement market by ingredient category, sales channel and condition, NBJ 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. 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 remains No. 1 through 2027, which is as far as we forecast. What’s compelling, too, 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. Full results of the market sizing data mentioned above and more are available in the NBJ Condition Specific Report: https://lnkd.in/d3ReBgh4

🗓 Join us next Thursday, August 8th at 9:30am MT for NBJ Live: Conditions to Consider for Today's Consumer! NBJ's Bill Giebler and Erika Rommel Craft will discuss what conditions consumers are trying to address with supplements and the motivations behind their purchases. ➡ Tune in next week to gain a better understanding of the #supplement industry's ever-evolving landscape, which ingredients are most popular for specific health conditions, and how their popularity is changing over time. New Hope Network Jessica Rubino Rick Polito Robyn Lawrence Hannah Esper Cindy Van Schouwen Gina Rainford NBJ Summit #supplements #healthconditions #consumertrends

➡ Watch Leader's Digest - Streaming LIVE from NBJ Summit: https://lnkd.in/ghHh4QzY   Join host Andrea Donsky for this enlightening series of interviews with industry professionals. Live from NBJ Summit at the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Upcoming Leaders: 10:30am PT - Richard Wang from NuLiv Science 1:00pm PT - Mike Fortescue from Mitsubishi International Food Ingredients, Inc. 1:30pm PT - Suresh L. from Natural Remedies - Human Health Care 2:30pm PT - Melissa Hollingsworth and Meeta B. Kratz from Lonza

The generation gap reveals itself in diverging opinions about magic mushrooms. The term “generation gap” emerged alongside the ascendance of the baby boomers in the 1960s, as their radical ideas about turning on, tuning in and dropping out scandalized their parents and grandparents. Now parents and grandparents themselves, baby boomers appear to have grown out of—or perhaps forgotten—the psychedelics that played such a key role in their rebellious youth. Perhaps nowhere is this more apparent than in diverging attitudes about functional and medicinal mushrooms. While older generations are seeking out lion’s mane to keep their aging brains unscrambled, more and more millennials and Gen Zers are turning to psilocybin mushrooms to scramble them. Based on consumer surveys published in the recently released NBJ Mushroom Market Report, the overall number of average U.S. consumers who use psilocybin mushrooms is still quite small, even as more and more cities, and even states, decriminalize them and it seems like everyone you know is quietly microdosing. According to NBJ surveys conducted in 2023 and 2024, only 13% of the total population is currently consuming magic mushrooms. But when we dig into the generational data, indications of an emerging psychedelic renaissance powered by young people start to reveal themselves. Nearly four times as many Gen Zers as baby boomers currently consume psilocybin, and more than twice as many Gen Zers as boomers say they would likely use magic mushrooms if they were legal. Timothy Leary may be long gone, but Paul Stamets is right here right now, amassing hero-worshipping followers on Instagram. Millennials and Gen Zers, bombarded with information on social media and not afraid to talk among themselves about psilocybin’s healing potential, are considerably more interested in and knowledgeable about psilocybin’s medical benefits than they were a year ago, NBJ surveys show. Baby boomers, on the other hand, are growing more and more dismissive of psilocybin’s power to expand their minds and their horizons. Last year, 41% of baby boomers expressed interest in learning more about psilocybin; this year, only 31% did. Get those mushrooms off their lawns. Full results of the wide-ranging consumer surveys mentioned above and more data are available in the NBJ Mushroom Market Report here: https://lnkd.in/gcv-mN3A Authored by NBJ's Senior Editor Robyn Lawrence 👉 Sign up to get these bi-weekly nuggets of wisdom delivered directly to your inbox: https://utm.io/ug4yV #analysttake #mushroom #psilocybin #marketsizing #data #insights

Consumer Segments and Purchase Decisions Fueling Growth in the Functional Mushroom Market. NBJ recently released our first-ever report on the functional mushroom markets, including data and commentary on an expanded list of functional mushrooms in food and beverages and supplements. Like many supplement brands and manufacturers within the dietary supplement industry, NBJ wanted to know more about what fuels consumer purchase behaviors and decisions behind this trending category. Is it sought after by average consumers or is it mostly health nuts and biohackers? How widespread is consumer knowledge on functional mushrooms? Where do they get the information that leads them to purchase? With so many different types of mushrooms that provide various benefits, which conditions or health concerns are driving consumer interest? In an NBJ consumer survey fielded in April 2024, we asked over 8,000 people if they consume functional mushrooms. What we found was that 37% say they consume food and beverages boosted with mushrooms and 27% consume mushroom supplements. Broken out by generations, Gen Z over indexes by 10 or more percentage points; showing that younger generations are driving the mushroom markets.  What about those psychedelics? We asked that, too. In a separate survey of over 1,000 people, about 13% said they currently consume psychedelic mushrooms, increasing slightly from the same survey fielded a year prior. We see a similar theme here that 19% of Gen Z and 17% of millennials consume psychedelics, dropping to 12% of Gen X and only 5% of baby boomers. In 2023, NBJ estimates the functional mushroom supplement market to hit $179 million in sales, which is up about 11.5% in growth from the year prior. But the progression doesn’t stop there, we’re forecasting double-digit growth through 2027. What conditions are driving most of the market growth and consumer interest? Immunity has long been a main growth driver for this ingredient, but NBJ estimates that other top growing conditions like brain health, growing at 13.4% and sports performance at 27.7%, will both be key drivers into 2025. Nine mushroom ingredients, two markets, three channels and ten conditions. There’s a lot in this report and a lot more to come in the mushrooms market. Authored by NBJ's Market Research Analyst Erika Rommel Craft 👉 Sign up to get these bi-weekly nuggets of wisdom delivered directly to your inbox: https://utm.io/ug4yV

Thanks to the rise of GLP-1 agonists in the mainstream, we find ourselves in new market landscape where the average consumer is grasping what mechanisms of action are, and how they function for health & wellness. In the June issue of Nutrition Business Journal, Editor in Chief Rick Polito makes keen observations on how the GLP-1 trend is reinvigorating a demand for #fiber based on its proven capacity to activate #guthealth. In this article, Brightseed’s Co-Founder and CEO Jim Flatt offers insight on the landscape and how Brightseed’s novel bioactive ingredient for total gut strength, Bio Gut Fiber, is joining the ranks of fresh fiber products designed for today’s new consumer in mind. Read more about it in NBJ's Condition Specific Issue: https://lnkd.in/g2isdsbD #BrightseedBioactives #bioactiveingredients #guthealth #bioactives #mechanismsofaction #consumerhealth #nutrition

Watch the recording from yesterday's NBJ Live: Mid-Year Supplement Industry Update: https://lnkd.in/g5mTzacX Rick Polito Bill Giebler Erika Rommel Craft NBJ Summit #supplements

E-commerce to the Rescue: Online Sales and the Practitioner Channel Save the Vitamin Market from Declining Sales in 2023. Vitamins are at the core of what many people think of when they hear the words “dietary supplement,” but it’s questionable how top of mind vitamins might be when those people walk into a brick and mortar store. Vitamins returned to not-far-above flat sales growth in 2023 after a decline in 2022, but where that disappointing growth came from tells us something about the market that could affect how brands market their products. Mass Market went full-on flat with 0% change in Nutrition Business Journal estimates and Natural and Specialty Retail saw a dip of $27 million, or .5%. That may not sound like a dramatic change, especially after heavier declines in 2022, but without E-commerce and Practitioner sales, the vitamin market would have declined for a second year in a row. The $168 million gained across the two channels was barely enough to avoid that decline as both multilevel marketing and the combined mail order/direct TV/radio channel also saw losses. What this means for the supplement industry is unclear. Both Natural and Specialty and Mass Market retail see growth in NBJ projections through 2027, and the nature of the vitamin market is such that new product discovery doesn’t play the role it might for something like Sports Nutrition. Still, a shift to E-commerce that’s been going on for years seems more dramatic when E-commerce becomes the primary channel that saves a category synonymous with supplements for so many consumers. Authored by NBJ's Editor-In-Chief Rick Polito. 👉 Sign up to get these bi-weekly nuggets of wisdom delivered directly to your inbox: https://utm.io/ug4yV