Vitafoods Europe 2026: Spotlight on healthy aging, women’s wellness and new product formats

At the recent Vitafoods Europe 2026 trade show, longevity, women’s health, delivery formats, the gut microbiome, and metabolic wellness took center stage. Industry players showcased new ingredients and consumer-centric formats to meet demand for proactive and targeted health solutions. 

On the show floor, Nutrition Insight explored the top trends in nutrition with experts from Sirio, Lallemand Health Solutions, Kerry, Rousselot, Lubrizol Nutraceuticals, and IFF Health Sciences. 

Maria Pavlidou, head of brand at Sirio Europe, told us that longevity was one of the main themes at the event in Barcelona, Spain, which took place May 5–7.

“Over the past few years, we’ve seen a spike in customer requests to formulate longevity supplements,” she detailed. “We’re also seeing longevity becoming a younger concept. These are health-conscious individuals who want to proactively take care of their health. They know we live longer, but are we living healthier?”

“There’s also a lot of amazing science,” Pavlidou added. “We collaborate with many ingredient suppliers and leverage emerging science.”

Sirio presented a new longevity platform, Aeion, which combines these scientific ingredients in delivery formats that put the consumer experience at the center.

“Our entire portfolio was built with the consumer experience in mind, helping to build healthy long-term habits,” said Pavlidou. “Longevity needs to be part of a broader routine.”

As consistency is key, consumers need products that taste great and “don’t feel like a chore,” she added.

For example, while the portfolio includes gummies and softgels, Aeion also includes new formats. “We have LifeChews, our jelly tablets, and FizzyBits, which are mini effervescent tablets. We also created a brand-new format called SnowMelt. This is a powder that dissolves instantly in the mouth. Its tiny particle size makes it melt like snow.”

Longevity through the gut

Lallemand Health Solutions highlighted its probiotic solution Cerenity for healthy aging.

Bérèngere Fuez, marketing director at the company, told us: “This is one of the first probiotic combinations that demonstrates benefits in muscle strength, mobility, vitality, and quality of life in other adults, with real-life benefits.”

At the event, we spoke with industry experts who highlighted key health trends and innovations in nutrition.“When we say mobility and muscle strength, it means that the people in the study were more mobile, which was evaluated with different tests, such as standing up or the hand grip test.”

“These are demonstrating positive results versus placebo, and over a period of two months only,” Fuez highlighted. “We also looked quite in-depth at the muscle structure, and we can see some changes, such as a stronger muscle architecture, length of muscle, and strength, in the quadriceps.”

At the same time, she noted that the product’s mechanism of action still needs to be clarified and researched further. “But gut dysbiosis is a hallmark of aging. By tackling this problem, we consider that we can bring some benefits by restoring this to the global health of older adults.”

Finding the right format

Exhibitors underscored that supplement formats play an important role in compliance and integration into daily routines. 

Jordan Dow, global vice president at Kerry, highlighted the importance of matching formats to when and how consumers might use them. For example, he pointed to the potential of sleep supporting supplements with Sensoril, Kerry’s ashwagandha root and leaf extract.

“One of our new trials on Sensoril, which is set to be published over the next few months, shows that Sensoril can alleviate sleep challenges,” he highlighted. “As we spent time with consumers, we wanted to figure out what format would make a difference to them.” 

He stressed that consumers typically don’t want to take a capsule right before they go to sleep, because that requires water. Nor do they want these products to have a flavor, since they would take supplements after brushing their teeth.

We also explored protein trends in active nutrition with FrieslandCampina Ingredients.As such, the company aims to add the extract to dissolving strips. “This is an experience, but it’s almost innocuous, and it certainly doesn’t impact the taste of toothpaste or your nighttime routine,” said Dow. 

“That’s an example of where we use consumer ethnographic research to determine the format that works for the condition that we’re looking at.”

Laura Collins, Ph.D., RD&A director in Cognitive Health at Kerry, added that life stage also plays a role in format selection. “As we age, our swallow reflex declines as well, and gummies will play a very big role there as well.”

In addition, she highlighted the importance of flavor in format development, pointing toward a cranberry sachet with Sensoril, as an example.

“Sensoril is a herb, so it has quite an earthy flavor and texture,” she noted. “But what is amazing about our applications team is that we aren’t just a nutrition company, we’re taste and nutrition. We compare the taste and mouthfeel to deliver on a concept that tastes great as well in a product that generally wouldn’t.”

Metabolic health applications

Lauretta Katsriku, global category leader in Collagen at Rousselot, told us about the company’s collagen peptide applications in metabolic health, one of the standout trends in nutrition. She reiterated the importance of convenient formats.

“We know that there are different kinds of fatigue, such as powder and pill fatigue. We’re always working to understand a little bit more about consumers’ needs and formulating applications that match them as they evolve.”

For example, Katsriku said Rousselot’s Nextida GC collagen peptide for blood glucose control is “very easy to formulate with,” which helps with including it into different formats on display at Vitafoods Europe 2026, such as shots in tropical flavors.

Beyond blood glucose management, she said Rousselot is looking at what it might be able to do with other markers of metabolic health, such as blood lipids, waist circumference, or weight management.

Lonza Capsugel highlighted the company’s plant-based capsules with a clean label claim.“We’ll explore to see what can be done,” she noted. “Our goal is not to stop at blood sugar control, but to see how best we can, as much as we can, address the full spectrum of metabolic health markers.”

“Metabolic health is not a trend,” underscored Katsriku. “It’s something that has existed for a long time, but I think the awareness of the importance of metabolic health and healthy functioning is becoming a lot more pronounced, and everybody’s getting more aware of it.”

“If you are able to be metabolically healthy, you help support your overall well-being.”

Lubrizol’s “Women’s Temple”

Isabel Gómez, global marketing manager at Lubrizol Nutraceuticals, highlighted the company’s consumer focus at its “Women’s Temple” at Vitafoods Europe 2026.

“We’ve created different personas like ‘Julieta,’ a mother-to-be, and ‘Linneah,’ a working professional,” she explained. “By bringing the consumer to the center, we try to understand what is going on in their brain and what they need.”

“For example, Julieta wants iron supplements, but she is concerned about side effects, so we give her reassurance and safety, but also the format she likes, a gummy. Linneah is trying to find her inner glow with beauty-from-within products. She needs visible results, credibility, reassurance, and something she can take on-the-go.”

For each of these personas, Lubrizol Nutraceuticals assigned one core ingredient and product format targeting their needs, such as Curcushine (bioavailable curcumin extract) gummies, Lipofer iron powder, and Lipophytol capsules (plant sterols).

Gómez also highlighted the benefits of microencapsulation in enabling consumer-friendly formats. For example, she pointed out that iron is challenging to work with as it is reactive and has a metallic taste.

Ingood by Olga unveiled concepts around Sulfodyne, a patented form of sulforaphane that supports healthy aging mechanisms.“We use a dual system technology for iron to improve bioavailability and ensure stability in formulations, especially in gummies or liquid applications, where taste is important,” she explained. “For iron, our robust encapsulation system allows for better bioavailability and dispersibility.”

Women’s wellness

IFF Health Sciences also underscored the importance of women’s health at Vitafoods Europe 2026. Vanessa Azevedo, global product launch marketing lead, told us how the company has moved beyond digestive health to precision solutions for its probiotics for women.

“Women are the main purchasers of supplements, so we started thinking about women’s health,” she said. “Initially, we focused on well-being, but then we evolved to life stages. We noticed that women and their needs change across different stages of life. You can’t have a universal women’s health solution.”

Azevedo said the company moved from a focus on pregnancy, reproductive stages, and vaginal health to menopause. “We realized menopause is a universe in itself; there’s so much to be done. We saw the opportunity to help consumers because there were so many unmet needs.”

IFF Health Sciences has created over five different concepts for women, addressing the “whole menopause journey.” For example, the company developed The Mystic, a probiotic and botanical blend to help manage menopause symptoms like hot flashes, stress relief, and sleep support. Azevedo positioned this as a turnkey solution for women at this stage in life.

“We’re also working on other needs in feminine wellness, beyond digestive and intimate health, to energy and skin health. We have a specific probiotic for skin health, and we also offer keratin for hair and nails, completing the women’s wellness and beauty ritual.”

Azevedo underscored that listening to consumers has been key to the company’s evolution in the women’s health category in recent years. “We’ve been running consumer perception studies and real-life studies, which are also increasingly requested by customers. They are not only asking for clinical trials, but they are now saying ‘I need to know how consumers use the products, what they feel, and what their motivations are.’”