Derived from sales, search and survey data compiled over the last year, the supplement retailer breaks down its top five trends for 2024. These span nutritional support for GLP-1 drug users, the quest for longevity, digestive and gut health, a focus on women over the age of 40, and consumer preference for functional beverages.
“Some of the trends this year can be considered an evolution of the ongoing trends from a year ago, such as hydration evolving into functional beverages and fit lifestyle evolving into the surge of interest around longevity and healthspan innovations,” Muriel Gonzalez, president of The Vitamin Shoppe, told NutraIngredients-USA.
“In other respects, the trends this year do represent a consumer shift back to some core categories for us, such as multivitamins for GLP-1 users, probiotics and fiber for gut health and joint support for longevity.”
Hot topics and wellness priorities
The trends report differentiates between hot topics and wellness priorities during a year it classifies as “a time of meaningful evolution”.
It assigns Ozempic and other semaglutide or tirzepatide drugs to the hot topic category for many consumers and media but notes that more survey responders say they are more focused on wellness priorities like mental and emotional health (35%) and sleep and rest (33%) than on weight control (25%).
In the wake of last year’s Ozempic craze, supplement companies have found opportunity in recognizing the supportive role of supplements in the weight management category and are positioning products to fill the nutrient gaps created by pharmaceutical satiety-inducing modulation of the GLP-1 gut hormone.
Ready-to-drink protein beverages, for example, were up 10% in 2023 year-on-year at The Vitamin Shoppe, and meal replacement products tailored to weight management increased 13% in the first four months of 2024. In May, the retailer launched its Whole Health Rx telehealth service that pairs GLP-1 drug prescriptions with nutritionist-recommended supplements. It focuses on four key support categories: proteins, multivitamins, fiber and probiotics.
Also hot topic is the consumer quest for longevity, spurred by new research, technology and tools, including a heightened focus on nutritional health and supplements as reflected in the 2023 sales gains of cellular health products to support longevity, up 45% from a year prior. This year, The Vitamin Shoppe installed longevity-centric product displays in all stores to spotlight cognitive health (top seller by volume), cellular health and mobility support formulas. It plans to expand the assortment to include probiotics, omega-3s and multivitamins over the summer.
“Longevity is one of the most exciting areas of wellness innovation today, with influential podcasters and content creators helping to democratize scientific information across social media, sharing fresh thinking in this field of study to huge audiences,” Gonzalez said. Just last week, tech mogul and longevity personality Bryan Johnson hosted one of his “Don’t Die Dinners” of vegetables, lentils and nutty pudding for the Kardashians, neuroscientist and podcaster Andrew Huberman and plastic surgeon Jason Diamond to discuss their mortality.
Probiotics also feature well in the exploding digestive and gut health category, along with prebiotics, psyllium husk and digestive enzymes, as consumers have come to understand the gut microbiome as the command center of the body. According to the report, sales of The Vitamin Shoppe’s ProBioCare range of digestive health products increased 24% in 2023, followed by another 44% jump in the first quarter of this year.
Another big area of expansion for the retailer is its dedicated women’s health product section, which recently added three new brands and over 40 new products, largely targeting the unique hormonal, emotional and sexual health needs of women as they move through their life stages.
And finally, the beverage category remains strong from last year but is more focused on satiating a thirst for anxiety and stress relief, as well as energy, immunity, sleep and cognitive enhancement. Among the range of vitamins, adaptogens, nootropics and botanicals in this category, L-theanine, ashwagandha and cordyceps are currently the most popular functional ingredients at The Vitamin Shoppe.
The evolution will be TikTok-tized
Evident in the report is the now embedded role of influencers and their platform of choice TikTok in cultivating consumer curiosity to create surges in popularity around supplement ingredients and products.
One most notable is berberine, which rose to TikTok fame as #naturesozempic in 2023. Although berberine benefits were initially conflated with Ozempic’s off-label weight-loss claims, the viral hashtag drove 40% growth in the sugar control category (Ozempic’s intended use) at The Vitamin Shoppe last year. The swell in interest for natural healthy blood sugar support spilled over to spike sales of other ingredients in this category including benfotiamine (vitamin B1), chromium, cinnamon and Gymnema sylvestre.
The Vitamin Shoppe report also spotlighted the TikTok virality of Mary Ruth’s liquid multivitamin set, which it says translated to sales up over 200% this year. Looking back at last year’s trends, Gonzalez noted that creatine and magnesium—which also continue to sweep TikTok—remain strong categories.
“Searches for magnesium powder—a key functional ingredient in the Sleepy Girl Mocktail, which exploded on TikTok earlier this year as a sleep-enhancing tonic—were up nearly 300% on vitaminshoppe.com in January,” the report noted.
It also called the billions of views across social media for #GutTok content “one of the biggest phenomena in wellness”, a trend that has “made subjects like bloating, IBS and bathroom habits unabashedly public—fashionable, even" while raising awareness about supplements that can benefit the microbiome.
“These evolving trends mean our merchant, marketing and inventory teams must stay nimble in order to adjust planning and maintain inventory for demand cycles that can change significantly from month to month,” Gonzalez said, adding that consumers are looking for trusted brands and accurate information that The Vitamin Shoppe provides to support them on their wellness journeys.
