Two years since COVID-19 began spreading around the world, consumers remain ultra-focused on prioritizing their health and wellness. For about 80% of U.S. consumers today, dietary supplements play a role in their healthcare regimens. Globally, Nutrition Business Journal estimated supplement sales have reached $156 billion, up 9.7% in 2020.

“Accelerating health trends of self-reliance, prevention, alternative therapies, digital health support, and an increased comfort with data sharing in exchange for personalized products/services are among the new nutraceutical market drivers,” according to Liz Sloan and Catherine Adams Hutt, who authored an article about the top nutraceutical trends that need reevaluation. “Moreover, the recent economic bifurcation of consumer purchasing behavior will offer further opportunities for premium and value-based multi-functional health solutions.”

Notably, vitamin D usage has increased significantly over the past year (52% in 2021 vs. 42% in 2020), as has zinc (22% vs. 15%), and vitamin C (40% vs. 35%), according to the Council for Responsible Nutrition’s 2021 Consumer Survey on Dietary Supplements. “These products are now mainstream and broadly accepted by the American public,” said Brian Wommack, CRN’s senior vice president of communications. “Just as important, 79% of Americans believe the dietary supplement industry is trustworthy, a jump of 5 percentage points from 2020.”

Our fourth annual State of the Industry Survey suggests businesses are in a strong position and companies are confident in their ability to meet consumer demands despite supply chain challenges, inflation, and other economic pressures.

Hopefully, the worst of COVID-19 is behind us, though new variants like Omicron may say otherwise. This health crisis will leave lasting impressions on many people, including of course those who have lost loved ones. Economies, industries, and consumers will all need to find a new path forward. It’s important to learn and adapt, instead of clinging to past strategies and models rendered obsolete by the pandemic.

For example, healthcare itself is being reshaped. Erik Goldman contributed an article about the telemedicine revolution and the profound impact on the practitioner-patient relationship. “The COVID pandemic released a technological and financial juggernaut that has been priming for warp-speed growth for decades,” Goldman said. “To say that there was pent-up demand would be an understatement.”

New paths out of the pandemic will present significant challenges, like protecting personal data in the case of telemedicine. And as Sloan and Adams Hutt suggest, misinformation can be considered a global health pandemic itself, as it erodes trust in governments, industries, and institutions. “Anchoring nutraceutical claims/benefits to a strong, reputable medical body of evidence is more important than ever.” As we’ve seen, trust in public institutions and in science is critical to public health.