As growth in the sale of natural and organic products across food, beverage, and supplement markets surpasses that of their conventional counterparts, market observers are calling for products with purpose, as opposed to those engineered to exploit market gaps.
Speaking at Natural Products Expo West’s “The State of Natural and Organic” education session, Maria Shriver, journalist, former First Lady of California, and founder of the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement, emphasized the need for purpose-driven products focusing on changing the trajectory of chronic disease that have bankrupted families a cross the United States.
“It’s so exciting that people are now focused on brain health and that people are creating products and supplements talking brain health, women’s health, and more, and it’s really been driven by people in this industry,” Shriver said.
“My generation didn’t grow up looking at labels or thinking about the impact of sugar, sodium, or other things we now know so much more about. I’ve learned about the role of food in brain health from researchers and others trying to influence how we talk about chronic diseases and neurological diseases. We, as a country, need what you are doing. We need healthier food and people focused on changing the trajectory of chronic disease in this country,” she said.
“The country is moving in your direction. Healthcare is too expensive, and neurological diseases are bankrupting families across this country. It’s not a question of whether we should change; it’s a question of how fast we can do it.”
Growing Market for Natural and Organic Products
Jessica Rubino, vice president of content and summits at New Hope Network, reported that the natural and organic product market, which is primarily dominated by food (71.3%) and dietary supplements (22%), has experienced an enormous expansion. The market has nearly tripled in size from $97 billion reported in 2007 to the current $325 billion.
In 2024, sales of natural and organic products went up 5.7%.
Kathryn Peters, SPINS’ head of industry relations, noted that many consumers bought packaged products categorized by SPINS as natural, compared to their non-natural counterparts.
She also pointed out that the average consumer spent 6% more on natural products than the previous year, reflecting the growing positive trend in the natural and organic product market.
“This is being driven across many areas of the store, including refrigerated, grocery, and vitamins and supplements, so it’s a resilient, wonderful story of growth for the entire industry,” Peters said.
With the growing demand, companies strive to create more products to meet the demand, including through dietary supplement contract manufacturing. This helps companies to get their products to the market faster.
Biohacking
The increasing consumer demand can also be attributed to a growing biohacking culture fueled by readily available information on the internet about health and wellness, as well as the growing use of chatbots by the young population to get information related to dietary supplements.
According to a survey conducted by New Hope Network, a platform focusing on the organic and natural product industry, dietary supplements were the leading products used for biohacking, forming a significant part of consumer biohacking strategy by 37%. This underscores the vitality of dietary supplements in today’s health and wellness strategies.
As biohacking is poised to become a household name in the near future, the way consumers obtain information about healthy lifestyles and products is also changing rapidly, with modern technology, notably generative AI, playing a critical role.
“This is largely driven by Gen Z, but consumers at large are getting a better understanding of how to use generative AI to help them make decisions about their food, beverage, and dietary supplement purchases,” Rubino noted.
The New Hope survey also revealed that 68% of Gen Z consumers rely on AI to make decisions about the type of dietary supplements to purchase, while 65% of them use it for food and beverage purchases.
As the natural and organic market witnesses an impressive increase in the number of consumers amid growing innovations, aligning products toward critical consumer needs could support a healthier population and the industry’s long-term growth.
