The Vitamin Shoppe’s new health trends report puts gut and women’s health in the spotlight
13 Jun 2024 --- The Vitamin Shoppe’s latest Health and Wellness Trend Report 2024 provides perspectives on the main consumer trends in the nutritional supplements sector. The report specifies what US citizens buy to support their health and well-being, leveraging proprietary data from the website and 700 retail locations.
“The Vitamin Shoppe offers the largest selection of vitamins, supplements and sports nutrition products of any retailer in the US, so we are uniquely positioned to understand the behaviors, attitudes and goals of the wellness consumer,” says Lee Wright, CEO of The Vitamin Shoppe.
“It’s a time of meaningful evolution in our industry, with innovations such as GLP-1 medications driving increased attention on the importance of healthy nutrition while social media continues to create surges of interest in a wide range of health and wellness supplements and products.”
In addition to the report, which can be accessed on their website, The Vitamin Shoppe commissioned a 2024 Consumer Survey of 2,000 US citizens to provide further context and insights into the figures behind the trends — “nutritional support for GLP-1 users,” “quest for longevity,” “gut health gets fashionable,” women’s health for ages 40 and up and functional beverages.
Health and wellness trends
The shifts in sales and themes developed during the post-pandemic period, when US citizens were focused on wellness. The company’s consumer survey shows that 55% of respondents said their lifestyles have been “much more” or “somewhat more” healthy since the COVID-19 pandemic ended. About 10% said their lifestyles are less healthy, and 35% said they were “neither more nor less” healthy.
Innova Market Insights data suggests that health is the number one driver of future F&B product development, with consumers prioritizing health over affordability. “Healthier living” is still a priority for consumers. Consumers are tuned into health claims or labels to assess product value, stating that “61% of global consumers agree that health claims or labels on the product have a major influence on their purchasing decision.”
In many countries worldwide, consumers are choosing more products that positively “boost” nutrition and benefit how the body functions. Consumers are now thinking about health more holistically and are eager to deal with their mental and physical wellness. Products are chosen for well-established benefits like digestive health or immunity and mental health benefits such as mental focus, concentration or relaxation.
Innova Market Insights data further suggests that nutrition rises to the top in several measures of consumer sentiment around health and well-being, with three in five consumers surveyed globally saying that healthier living also means following a healthy and nutritious diet.
The big five
The Vitamin Shoppe has boosted their women’s health offerings significantly.
The Vitamin Shoppe’s top five health and wellness trends for 2024 list nutritional support for GLP-1 users first. Supplements such as proteins, multivitamins, fiber and probiotics take on new importance for patients who are taking semaglutide or tirzepatide weight-loss drugs, such as Ozempic and Mounjaro.
Ready-to-drink protein beverages, for example, were up 10% in 2023 compared to the previous year and meal replacement products tailored to weight management are up 13% in the first four months of this year. Despite the popularity of Ozempic and similar supplements for weight loss, more US citizens are increasingly focused on mental and emotional health, sleep and rest rather than weight control.
From lifespan to healthspan, the quest for longer, more active lives is driven by cutting-edge research, technologies and tools, including a heightened focus on nutritional health and supplements. This year, The Vitamin Shoppe installed longevity-centric product displays in all stores to spotlight key healthy aging needs, including cognitive health, cellular health and mobility support formulas.
With billions of views on social media, gut health and #GutTok content are among the most prominent phenomena in wellness. The trend has turned subjects like bloating and irritable bowel syndrome into a topic for public consumption while raising awareness about the microbiome and the benefits of probiotics, prebiotics, psyllium husk and digestive enzymes.
Due to the growth of women’s health, The Vitamin Shoppe launched three new brands — Health and Her, Wile and Solaray Her Life Stages — and added more than 40 new products to its women’s health product displays. This has been one of the most significant expansions in the segment in many years.
The products feature formulas for women as they undergo perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause, with the subsequent hormonal health, emotional health and sexual health issues inherent in these phases.
The final “functional beverages” trend shows that consumers want beverages that hydrate and enhance wellness goals through vitamins, adaptogens, nootropics and botanicals. The Vitamin Shoppe launched an endcap display in 500 stores dedicated to functional drinks such as Kin Euphorics, De Soi, Hiyo and Parch.
By Inga de Jong
