Consumers are turning to wellness-orientated food and drinks as affordable lifestyle choices for long-term health. Functionality is trending, but “clean eating” will define the coming years. Gut health is viewed as central to holistic wellbeing, driving probiotic, high-fibre and even brain health claims. GLP-1 drugs are amplifying demand for metabolic support and less processed foods, while stricter rules are pushing reformulation towards transparency and nutrient density.
Delivery
This report comes in PPT.
Key findings
Diverse health journeys
Health perceptions, priorities and treatment choices vary significantly across life stages. While younger generations prioritise mental wellbeing, senior consumers are driving demand for healthy ageing and mobility, as they strongly trust medical professionals. Younger cohorts often seek convenience and personalisation in healthcare journeys, leading them to search for health information using Generative AI and social media.
Movement embraces functional nutrition
Exercise habits vary across generations, with many consumers who maintain active lifestyles increasingly linking nutrition to daily performance. This holistic approach is driving consumption of sports nutrition, vitamins and supplements for improved wellbeing and long-term health. Demand for targeted support for muscle growth and post-workout recovery is driving exercisers towards protein and creatine supplementation.
GLP-1 connecting treatment and lifestyles
The adoption of GLP-1 medications for weight loss is leading consumers to redefine their health journeys, as they seek ongoing treatment support, and increasingly look for health information via digital sources. However, barriers such as limited time and lack of enjoyment can make it challenging to build active lifestyles. GLP-1 users are more likely to consume vitamins and supplements, highlighting an opportunity for broader nutritional support related to side effects and adequate nutrition.
Health tracking with confidence
As tracking devices and Gen AI become increasingly embedded in consumers’ routines, concerns about data privacy and security are also growing, alongside digital fatigue. However, health tracking remains a relevant component of healthier lifestyles, particularly among younger cohorts, who are more likely to integrate digital tools into their daily health management, especially related to sleep, weight, steps and physical activities.
Our expert’s view of health and wellness in 2026
Key findings
A USD1 trillion market: The baseline is set, proof earns the premium
Food as a tool for specific wellness outcomes
Wellness claims travel through two layers
Top five trends in health and wellness
Top five trends uncovered
Health and wellness passes USD1 trillion in 2026: the baseline is now the market
Half the biggest value gains to 2030 are low margin, trust-signal health claims
Diffusion sets the price: The steeper the curve, the faster the premium dissolves
“Clean eating” and its trust signals are baseline; but choose the right ones
Mars’ colour problem is the cost of treating a core sensory asset as a compliance item
Ripple Organic Plant-Based Milk: Clean label that adds protein, not compromise
Warburtons: Renewal turns gluten-free restriction into discovery
Hold the baseline, and build the reason to buy above it
Cheaper GLP-1 therapies turn metabolic health into a category: Win on protein and fibre
Fibre: Ingredient demand runs ahead of the claim
Protein’s premium has gone; win it back through quality and new benefits
Fibre’s premium window is open but narrow
The scaffold is built; the metabolic payoff is still largely unclaimed
After dual-nutrient scaffolds, life-stage scaffolds will earn the next premium
Protein is the entry cost; scaffolds that name one outcome win
Digestive health is the largest positive-nutrition platform and still compounding
Probiotic innovation is not done, but gut focus shifts to fibre, prebiotic and microbiome
Poppi extends “gut soda” into energy or relaxation, bridging prebiotic to all-day platform
Welch’s Probiotic Yogofruits: Snacking format, functional aim, mainstream retail reach
Gut pairings define the horizon: From metabolism and immunity to mind and longevity
Gut health wins are built on specificity, life stage and the brain connection
Brain health: Fast-growing health benefit across every key region
Beverages lead the mind opportunity; hot drinks are the untapped white space
Calm is the new energy: The daily wind-down is the mind’s promising, near-term prize
TRIP crosses two markets by owning the calm ritual, not a single hero ingredient
Asia Pacific is the engine of the mind: Prove launches there first
Regulation varies by region, but layered proof lets mind brands travel
Impulse Coffees brings focus to India’s hot drinks with precise, creator-led claims
Own an occasion and a speed of effect, not a molecule
Shoppers pay for a named outcome, not a generic promise of being better for them
Shoppers pay for a named outcome, not a generic promise of being better for them
Protein rebuilds its premium through better-specified protein, not more protein
In the UK, Myprotein sells protein grade and format, not grammes
Allergen assurance outgrows self-declared clean label, so certification pays
Everyday benefits and protein lead growth; match proof to price
In Sweden, Lindahls sells collagen as the premium but proves it with vitamin C
Rebuild the premium through specified, substantiated claims
Future implications
Opportunities for growth
Health and Wellness
Health and Wellness encompasses a number of key claims made on a food or drink products that suggest a health and/or wellness positioning. It comprises positionings relating to better for you, dietary and free from, fortified/functional, health benefit, natural and organic. Please note that data is not available at this level or other aggregated claim levels.
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