Following the boom period of the COVID-19 pandemic, overall growth in dietary supplement sales has relaxed back to single-digits, led mostly by price increases, according to Scott Dicker, market insights director for SPINS.

However, price increases for the supplements category have been less than many other food and beverage categories, he noted.

Performance Payout

“The fastest-growing category for the past two years, and what’s clearly on trend for the third straight year, is performance nutrition,” which Dicker said encompasses traditional sports nutrition, products that help support active lifestyles, and formulas that can help people optimize their daily activities.

“We see a new focus not just in the supplement industry, but throughout all industries, on health span,” said Dicker, “staying healthy and active for longer. Performance nutrition is really leading the way, bringing in older generations and women,” for example.

Hydration continues to be a high-growth category with broad appeal. Not everyone’s an elite athlete who needs to replenish and refuel after an event, but many are still looking for hydration products to get through their day.

“A lot of people are using (hydration supplements) as a hangover remedy,” as well, said Dicker. “What was once mainly used for sports performance is now used for enhancing your performance throughout the day—whatever activities you’re participating in.”

Total Wellness: Where Categories Blur

With significant interest in mood, sleep, and cognitive support, the big picture of total wellness and health span are coming into clearer focus for consumers.

“I don’t think people are going to get less stressed, and I don’t think they’re going to naturally sleep more” without supportive product options, Dicker said when asked if these categories have staying power. 

“The products need to work, but people are going to continue to look for stress support, mood support, sleep support, and they’re all tied together. It’s really a blurring. People are figuring out this is ‘total wellness.’ If I get better sleep I’m less stressed. If I get better sleep, I’m probably going to do my activities better. And also, on the flip side, if I’m more active, I’m less stressed out. So people are tying this to total wellness support now, and you see that categories are blurring.”

This is opening product opportunities as companies market old ingredients in new categories. “We saw that happen with collagen,” said Dicker. “We’ve seen that happen with creatine, which now is moving into brain health and cognition support and finding a new audience.”

As another example, the beauty-from-within segment has been gaining steam amid connections to sleep and stress support. 

“There’s renewed focus on things like beauty sleep, but also collagen-building ingredients like vitamin C—an old ingredient being positioned for a new health focus.”

In the realm of natural beauty, an inside-out approach is something to continue to watch, said Dicker. “Vital Proteins did a great job of that. You see them at Target. They’re in the beauty section as well as the supplement section. So there’s that cross-merchandising option that’s going to drive some sales as well.”

Shopping Values

SPINS consumer research from 2023 showed that more consumers are shopping with their values such as “good for people, planet, and health.”

“We found that nearly nine out of 10 consumers are willing to pay a premium for those attributes,” said Dicker. “Things like B Corp, Certified Upcycled ingredients, regenerative agriculture—people are willing to pay more for them.”

It’s not simply an evolution of values in terms of natural to organic and better-for-you, said Dicker. “It’s expanded to all these different values that are really helping to drive the industry forward in what we feel is a positive direction.”

Ingredients and Markets to Watch

Women’s Health. Products that target women’s health issues beyond prenatal support are starting to proliferate. “The sales right now actually are not indicating that at retail, but all of the indicators are that 2024 is going to be a big year for women’s health supplements,” said Dicker.

Menopause, perimenopause, libido support, as well as digestive health and probiotics are areas to watch, he noted.

Mushrooms. Mushrooms continue to surge. “I think we’re just scratching the surface on that,” said Dicker. “We’ve seen them in functional foods, beverages, as well as supplements.”

Fiber and the Microbiome. Fiber and prebiotics are performing well. “The microbiome is one that’s really interesting to me,” said Dicker, as probiotic strains, prebiotics, synbiotics, and postbiotics attract attention.

“There seems to be a lot of interest growing in things like the gut-brain axis. Again, finding new health focuses, it’s not all about digestive support anymore. There’s room to innovate there. If someone finds something that works really well and is able to educate the market, I think there’s a big opportunity in that microbiome space.”

Next-Gen Adaptogens. Adaptogens like ashwagandha have been leading market sellers for the past few years, but Dicker suggested there’s room for “a new hero adaptogen.”

“Now that consumers are familiar with that term (adaptogen), I think there’s opportunity for some of other ingredients that have been around for a while to find new life.”

A Ceiling for Gummies?

Gummies are everywhere and have had impressive staying power, appealing to all types of consumers. However, a ceiling is in sight, according to Dicker. “I think we’re going to be looking at some different formats,” which will be category-dependent.

With so many supplement users taking more than one product, if each dose requires multiple gummies, the novelty may get outweighed by efficiency and convenience.

“That’s why you’re seeing a lot of the multifunctional supplements in powder form,” said Dicker. “Even if it’s a big scoop, at least it’s just one drink and not like you’re eating a bag of gummy bears.”