The health supplements market offers multiple product subcategories, including aromatherapy, botanical and herbal supplements, health supplements for children, concentrates, fruit and vegetable concentrates, products specifically for hair/skin/nails, homeopathic treatments, hormones, men’s and women’s specialty supplements, and vitamins and minerals. Each of these formats is suitable for immune health ingredients and immune health benefits.
Consumer Trends Show Interest in Immune Health Supplements
Immune health supplements have great potential among consumers. According to Innova survey results on consumer trends, over three-quarters of consumers globally say that they take health supplements and well over half buy health supplements at least once a month. While immune health is the fifth most important body-related health concern for consumers, it ranks third among health issues that consumers act upon. In fact, nearly two-thirds of consumers say that they take action on supplements for immune health. A closer look at consumer trends among supplement users reveals that 39% of survey respondents say they take supplements to boost their immunity, making this the second most important reason behind generally staying healthy. Vitamins and minerals are the top subcategory of supplements and many vitamins and minerals have their own immune benefits. Consumers also say that capsules and tablets are their favorite supplement formats.
Health Supplements Market Offers Opportunities for Immune Health Supplements
Global retail sales of all supplements show long-term continued growth, with a compound annual growth rate of +6.7% over a recent five-year period. This translates into a total global value of US$138.5 billion and a projected value of US$188 billion by 2027. Asia and North America together account for three-quarters of value sales, with the US and China as the largest markets. Growth in health supplements is the fastest in the smaller, emerging regions of East Europe, Africa, and Latin America and the Asian countries Vietnam and Pakistan. Preferred formats for health supplements vary from country to country – vitamins are at the top in the US while herbal and health-specific products are favorites in India and Vietnam.
Different Firms Lead in Immune Health Supplements
The supplements and immune health supplements market features firms of all sizes, including global healthcare and pharmaceutical companies, specialist health retailers, multi-level marketing firms, and specialized supplements businesses. Market trends for major suppliers show that immune health claims rose during the three years following the COVID-19 pandemic but appear to be leveling off. Sanofi led other firms in launches of immune health supplements in the post-pandemic period ending Q3 2023. Haleon, formerly known as GSK/Pfizer, and Nature’s Way also focused on immunity and immune health.
Several Factors Shape New Product Launches for Immune Health Supplements
In 2022-2023, approximately one-third of health supplements launched carried a claim for immune health. Although a majority of immune health supplement launches are in North America and West Europe, East Europe over-indexes more than other countries in launches of immune health supplement products. Latin America accounts for the fastest growth in immune health supplement launches. By supplement type, vitamins and minerals and probiotics over-index for the presence of immune health claims on product launches while botanical supplements are less prominent. Vitamins are the top ingredients in immune health supplements and they continue to gain share. Zinc, a mineral with a strong association with immune health, is growing rapidly. The link between gut health and immune health may be losing appeal since probiotics have become less prominent, but adaptogenic botanicals are very much on-trend.
Impact of Top Food and Beverage Trends
Several of Innova’s Top 10 Trends for 2023 are particularly relevant for immune health supplements. The trend Unpuzzle Health shows the link between consumer health understanding and new product launches. Consumers recognize key nutrients in food and beverages that they associate with immune health and they turn to immune health supplements in everyday chewable and drinkable formats. Since consumers are so aware of immune health nutrients such as vitamin C and zinc, manufacturers may not need to highlight claims quite as much. The trend Plant-Based: Unlocking a New Narrative, highlights continued consumer trends toward immune health supplements that have botanical ingredients or adaptogenic mushrooms. The trend Devouring Digital acknowledges the importance of the digital world for promoting and selling products, including online selling of immune health supplements and web-based personalized nutrition.
Immune Health Supplements Will Continue to be Important
Consumers became more interested in immune health during the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to be concerned about the spread of viruses. While new product development and launches of immune health supplements have tapered off a bit, research continues to gain better understanding of the immune system and the role of nutrition in immune health. This could ultimately drive development of new immune health ingredients or more personalized nutrition solutions in the future.
This article is based on our category Insider report, “Future-Proofing Wellness: Anticipating Global Trends in Immune Health Supplements.” If you are interested in reading our report on global trends in immune health supplements, feel free to request a demo. You can do this by either booking a demo or using our Contact Form.
