man taking supplement

A Look at the US Supplement Market

The US supplement market proves consumers’ health and wellness interests are evolving. Here's what you need to know about the market segments, growing and emerging health claims, and top flavor trends in supplements. 

Highlights

  • The US supplement market is growing, with several emerging health positionings.
  • Immune health remains important, while sleep support needs are growing. 
  • New product launches show supplement flavor trends are fruit-focused. 

US Supplement Market Overview

The $35.7 billion US retail vitamin, mineral, and supplement market is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 2.5% from 2022 to 2027.1 Vitamins make up the largest share of the market at 40.3%, while herbal supplements are the fastest-growing segment.2

US Supplement Market

Product TypeSales in US BillionsForecast CAGR (2022-2027)
Vitamins$14.42.2%
Non-Herbal (including minerals)$13.12.5%
Herbal$5.94.3%
Tonics$1.41.5%
Pediatric Vitamins, Minerals, and Supplements$0.84.0%
Source: Euromonitor, Vitamins and Dietary Supplements – 2022 Market Sizes, March 2023

The leading health positionings for US supplements are general health ($3.48 billion), digestion ($2.73 billion), and immune system ($2.36 billion).3 For supplement trends, Euromonitor reports high year-over-year growth for mood/relaxing claims (+62.0%), energy claims (+22.7%), and sexual health claims (+15.9%),4 while Innova identifies mental acuity and insomnia supplements as new product development trends to watch.5

Supplement Usage Among Consumers

Daily supplement use in the US exceeds the global average, with 38% of US consumers taking one or more supplements daily (compared to 26% globally).6 The top reasons consumers prefer supplements to support their health over food and beverage are the ability to combine supplements tailored to their needs and as a faster way to get essential nutrients.7 

Consumers are reaching for supplements to support both physical and mental needs states, with the interest in mood support supplements continuing to grow. While 27% of consumers in North America have taken supplements to improve physical health, 34% have done so to improve their mental or emotional wellbeing.8

supplements

Supplement Benefits Important to Consumers

US consumers have an interest in a broad range of functional benefits and find supplements appealing if they can address a wellness need they consider important at a relatively low cost, reports Mintel.9 Recent US supplement launches include products for immunity, beauty, stress, sleep, and brain/nervous system support, among others.10

Immune Health Still a Priority

Immunity claims ranked first in new supplement launches due to the proliferation of immune health products during COVID, with 38% of products launched between April 2020 and March 2023 featuring a claim.11 While this has dipped somewhat since COVID concerns have started to ease, immune health is still on consumers’ minds. The majority (58%) of US adults have used a vitamin, mineral, or supplement that supports immune health and say they would do so again.12

Immunity trends will continue to influence food and supplement markets in the US and globally as consumers seek out immune health products to hedge against new COVID variants. Probiotics and fermented ingredients are especially popular, with more diversification expected going forward. In addition, more consumers are becoming aware of the important role of prebiotics. Postbiotic products for immunity are still niche, but recent patents indicate growth potential.

Download our Guide to Navigating Immune Claims to learn more about immunity support and making claims for your products.

Sleep Support Needs Growing

With the importance of sleep to physical and mental wellbeing becoming more widely known, many consumers are taking steps toward improving their sleep—from using sleep apps to sleep supplements. High stress levels and exposure to blue light from screens are some common characteristics of the modern lifestyle that can take their toll on sleep quantity and quality.

In the past year, more than one in ten US supplement launches had insomnia positioning, representing an average annual share growth of 36.4% over the past five years.13 A wide variety of ingredients are being featured in sleep aid supplements and functional products, including melatonin, tryptophan, magnesium, valerian, and CBD. 

Flavor Trends in Supplements

Fruit flavors continue to dominate in new supplement launches in the US. Orange, strawberry, and red raspberry are the top flavors in supplements launched over the past year, while mango (now in the number ten spot) is the fastest-growing.14 In the past five years, mango flavor has grown at a CAGR of 76.2% in new supplement launches.15 Lemonade (+53.8%), elderberry (+50.6%), and watermelon (+49.6%) flavors are also on the rise.16

woman holding supplement

Succeeding in Supplements

Understanding consumers' evolving needs is essential to succeeding in the supplement market. Preferences are changing fast, with consumers looking for a variety of new health and wellness benefits from their supplements. Companies that keep up with the most important supplement trends can address consumers’ top concerns and help support a lifetime of health and wellness.

As a global expert in functional food and supplement ingredients, Glanbia Nutritionals has a portfolio of options from custom premix solutions to bioactive ingredients to give your consumers the benefits they’re looking for.  We support our customers with high-quality nutritional and functional ingredients and with market insights to help them succeed. 

Contact us to learn more.

Frequently Asked Questions

Certain micronutrients are essential to human health. While these vitamins and minerals each play specific roles in the body, all are critical to maintaining the body’s basic functions. 

These key functions range from vitamin A’s involvement in immunity, reproduction, and vision to zinc‘s role in building proteins, making DNA, and healing wounds. Energy production, fluid balance, growth, and so much more depend on micronutrients.

A functional beverage is a drink that provides a beneficial effect beyond basic nutrition. These health and wellness benefits can come from a wide range of bioactive ingredients—from adaptogenic herbs like ashwagandha to MCTs for the keto diet to tryptophan for sleep support.

Some examples of functional beverages are energy drinks formulated with caffeine and B vitamins, sports drinks with added electrolytes and antioxidants, yogurt drinks that have probiotics, and beauty-from-within beverages containing collagen. The functional beverage market continues to grow as more people look for benefits like energy, relaxation, immune support, cognitive support, muscle building, and more.

Some of the best food sources of vitamin D, according to the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans, are certain types of fish (such as freshwater rainbow trout (645 IU per serving), salmon (383-570 IU), and canned light tuna (231 IU)), as well as raw mushrooms (114-1110 IU), and fortified dairy products like milk, yogurt, and cheese (85-117 IU).

In fact, most of the vitamin D in Americans’ diets comes from fortified foods and beverages. Today, there is a wide variety of vitamin D-fortified products to help boost intake of this shortfall nutrient—from plant-based milks to breakfast cereals to nutrition bars.

Nutrient premixes are pre-blended nutrient powders that can include a variety of nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, healthy fats, fibers, and bioactives, depending on the need. They can even include gums and flavors. Nutrient premixes are designed to be easy for manufacturers to add to foods, beverages, and supplements, with good flowability and uniform particle size to prevent the different nutrients from separating out.

There are vitamin-mineral blends, electrolyte blends, energy blends, keto blends, and oftentimes custom blends for companies that have a unique idea in mind for their fortified or functional products. Formulating with a nutrient premix instead of several individual ingredients saves a company time and simplifies purchasing, warehousing, and production. 


References

1. Euromonitor, Vitamins & Dietary Supplements, US July 2023.
2-4. Euromonitor, Vitamins and Dietary Supplements – 2022 Market Sizes, March 2023.
5-6. Innova Supplements in the US, 2023.
7. Innova Trends Survey, 2023. 
8. Innova Health & Nutrition Survey, 2022.
9-10. Mintel, A year of innovation in VMS, 2022. 
11. Innova Supplements in the US, 2023.
12. Mintel, A year of innovation in VMS, 2022.
13-16. Innova Supplements in the US, 2023.

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