Holistic health hacks: Multifunctional and personalized solutions drive growth in vitamin space

04 Apr 2024 --- Vitamin consumers are most interested in multifunctional claims with a focus on holistic health and better value for money, experts at dsm-firmenich, ADM and Prinova tell us. Offerings tailored to emerging health benefits such as gut synergies, sports nutrition and women’s health are trending in the segment.  

“Trends shaping the industry are new emerging health benefits. For example, we see more attention globally to gut health, brain-gut synergies, women’s health and menopause. Important aspects are scientific achievements and bioavailability. Consumers are looking for highly effective ingredients and prefer to choose clean label, GMO-free and vegan or vegetarian,” Kristina Liukaityte, global product marketing specialist, vitamins at dsm-firmenich, tells Nutrition Insight.

Another key driver of changes will be new technologies with more attention to personalized nutrition and solutions with AI and mobile apps for tracking an individual’s nutrition and health. Strict environmental and social responsibility standards have led to a shift toward Western producers of vitamins.  

“Personalized nutrition will be supported by a greater diversity of formats in the market. Next to the most efficient tablets, we see increasing interest in intravenous vitamin therapy, non-pill formats and on-the-go solutions. Most importantly, sustainability in vitamin production is becoming more important, leading to demand for ethically sourced ingredients and eco-friendly manufacturing,” says Liukaityte. 

As for the current mindset of today’s vitamin consumer, Paula Limena, vice president, global marketing of health and wellness at ADM, tells us that “proactive prevention” is the key, with 71% of Gen Z, 58% of millennials, 61% of Gen X and 64% of baby boomers adopting the approach.

“This approach is translating into all facets of health-conscious consumers’ shopping behaviors, which are being further influenced by the increasing desire for tailored wellness support,” Limena explains.

Multifunctional and value for money
Consumers are mindful of “holistic health” and search for products that enhance their overall health instead of focusing on specific health claims. According to dsm-firmenich’s Liukaityte, multifunctional supplements represent a cost-effective and convenient solution during challenging economic times. 

“Consumers value multifunctional claims on food, drink and supplement products that are positioned around supporting the immune system. Consumers look for better value for money and they are choosing specific vitamins in response to their concerns,” Liukaityte explains.Vitamins and functional foods and beverages are merging.

dsm-firmenich’s Global Health Concerns Study 2023, surveying around 20,000 participants in 26 countries, found that people worry more about their energy levels/tiredness, bones and joints/mobility, mental and emotional health, gut health, heart health and skin appearance. 

“Dietary supplements globally are taken mostly to address concerns about immunity and energy. However, the demand can also differ due to specific trends in regions. For example, we see that Asian countries are more interested in vitamin C for its beauty benefits than immunity. Due to the current situation in the world, we see higher market attention and demand for vitamins made in the Western world as well. We are lucky to be the only Western producer of a number of vitamins: C, B1, B2, B6, B7 (biotin), B9 (folic acid) and K1,” says Liukaityte. 

Prinova set out to inspire manufacturers to pair vitamins with other ingredients in many of its recent concepts. “For example, we recently showcased a refreshing, functional hydration beverage containing electrolytes. It combines B vitamins and vitamin E with Cococin — a freeze-dried derivative of coconut water — and BCAAs and antioxidants,” James Street, global marketing director at Prinova, tells us.

“Similarly, our ‘Move, Flex & Soothe’ beverage concept combines our Curcumin C3 Reduct — which helps control inflammatory responses — with vitamin C.”

Street notes an exciting trend: the demand for vitamins in sports nutrition. Prinova recently surveyed physically active European consumers and asked them to pick five ingredients they most looked for in sports nutrition products. The highest scorers were vitamins, which were chosen by 64% of surveyed consumers.

“One explanation for this is that evidence of the benefits of vitamins for athletic performance is cutting through. For example, a deficiency of B vitamins can reduce athletes’ ability to perform high-intensity exercise,” Street explains.

According to Street, high consumer demand will continue at a time when global instability is affecting supply chains. “That means it makes sense to work with providers you can trust.” 

“Prinova offers the world’s largest inventory of food-grade single vitamins, and partnering with us means manufacturers can reduce their exposure to supply chain volatility. They can also take advantage of our fixed-price and long-term contracts, diverse network of key suppliers and long-standing producer relationships,” says Street. 

Supplements and functional foods merge
The vitamins sector is experiencing a movement in which supplements and functional foods and beverages merge. ADM believes the industry will continue to evolve in this direction, which can be seen in the green juices, powders, stick packs and gummies that are entering the market.

Its acerola extract and Novatol are featured in gummy concepts, alongside its BPL1 postbiotic, DE111 spore-forming probiotic and ADM/Matsutani LLC’s Fibersol prebiotic dietary fiber.The vitamins segment is gaining a strong lifestyle focus. 

“Through our wider health and wellness portfolio, we have developed a fast melt stick pack concept that can support people’s busy lifestyles because it dissolves quickly. Our fast melt concept includes daily value for vitamins C, B12, D3, E and zinc per serving, along with our biotic solutions,” says Limena. 

“These concepts represent where the vitamin market is headed next, pointing to how convenient, multifunctional tasty treats that feature specific naturally derived vitamins – such as vitamins E, C, B, D and more are rising to the top.”

According to Street, many vitamins have powerful associations with specific health areas that drive trends and demand. “The most obvious example is the link consumers make between immunity and vitamin C. Vitamin C supplement sales reportedly soared during the early stages of the (COVID-19) pandemic.” 

“Similarly, vitamin B supplementation is associated with the slowing of cognitive decline, so will benefit from the growing focus on nutrition for mental performance,” Street notes.

According to Liukaityte, dsm-firmenich sees a considerable interest in bioavailability for optimal nutrient absorption. Its ampli-D has up to three times faster absorption than the average D vitamin. The company supports the trend with technologies such as microencapsulation, spray-drying and granulation. 

“In the current application trend landscape, there’s a notable rise in the market for more enjoyable and engaging formats, such as gummies, chews, on-the-go shots and vitamins seamlessly integrated into a variety of beverages and snacks,” Liukaityte notes. 

“This expansion caters to a wide range of consumer preferences, emphasizing both taste and convenience. We are following market trends and launching novel formats such as our Sprinkle technology, where vitamins, minerals and proteins are delivered through granules sprinkled over food just before eating it. This high-load extruded technology provides nutritional benefits to consumers with no taste impact.” 

The wellness sphere
Consumers connect specific vitamins and minerals with targeted, trending wellness areas such as energy, mood, sleep quality, skin health, metabolic health and immune function, Limena underscores. They seek vitamins associated with the different areas of wellness.

“This is driving the consumption of vitamins B12, D, C and E, as well as zinc, iron and magnesium. While daily multi-vitamins are still in high demand, this shift toward specificity is enabling more growth opportunities for products with particular vitamin inclusions,” Limena notes.

“This turn toward specific vitamin supplementation is compounded by the health and wellness arena experiencing a call for a ‘return to nature.’ Consumers are drawn to recognizable ingredients they deem as being ‘closer-to-nature’ and want this reflected in their health and wellness purchases.”

The company’s research shows that consumers want to see products with botanicals that provide natural sources of vitamins C and D and minerals zinc, selenium and iron, all of which have the potential to support key wellness aspects like immune function. Its portfolio includes a wide range of high-quality botanical extracts, standardized plant extracts and fruit and vegetable content powders. 

By Inga de Jong