Trends in the natural foods industry can often feel like they come and go before anyone has a chance to respond to them. Sometimes, however, those trends evolve and become part of everyday life for shoppers. That’s what we’re seeing today as more shoppers opt for products that are good for them and free of ingredients that don’t fit their diets or lifestyles. Whether cutting back on artificial sugar, finding the right vitamins and supplements, or finding the cleanest products available, shoppers are paying close attention to labels as they ring in a healthy new year.

A Desire for Better Sweeteners

Over the years, sugar has gained a bad reputation with shoppers (and consequently a lot of manufacturers). With many products having large amounts of added sugars and general concerns about health, low- or no-added sugar diets like Keto and Whole30 have emerged. Even for shoppers who aren’t adhering to one of those diets, sugar content is one of the first places they look on the nutrition panel. SPINS data shows how sugar alternatives have become popular across a spectrum of products, be it to reduce carb content or to lower calories.

• Over the last year, sales dollars for items containing monk fruit have grown 20%, 15% for stevia, and 3% for sugar alcohols.
• Within beverages, sweeteners showing the most growth were coconut sugar (21.1%), sugar alcohols (20.6%) and stevia (10.3%).

Vitamins and Supplements to Round Out Dietary Needs

The pandemic has affected nearly every part of life and the natural along with the wellness market, including vitamins, minerals and supplements (VMS). With shoppers trying to stay healthy, these products have become an easily accessible line of defense and continue to play a role in daily well-being routines.

Growth in VMS has struggled the last year in the natural channel due to natural supplements gaining distribution in conventional retailers, shoppers consolidating trips during the pandemic, and VMS having a robust digital offering. Approximately 17% of VMS sales were made online in 2020. VMS on Amazon grew 43% over the last two years according to ClearCut Analytics, driven by probiotics, multi-vitamins and collagen.

That said, it’s expected that VMS sales across natural retailers will grow again as things begin to normalize in 2022. Already there has been increased innovation with more trade shows occurring and retailers offering a wider mix of products.

While immunity supplements grew sales in 2020, adjacent wellness categories are now driving growth across all retail channels and should be a focus. These categories, in particular, have seen impressive growth:

• Nootropics/cognitive health (mushrooms), +40%
• Performance nutrition (electrolytes, pre-/post-workout), +9%
• Collagen, +40%
• Sleep support (melatonin), +33%

Clean Labels for More Informed Decisions

Clean Label has no official definition, but shoppers are having no trouble deciding what it means for them. Shoppers want products with simple, natural ingredients that aren’t processed and a nutritional panel that an average person can understand. No artificial ingredients! No preservatives! No added sugars! Transparency is at the heart of clean eating because shoppers want to make informed choices about the foods they eat and the body care they use. For example, within performance supplements, sales for items associated with clean diets saw strong growth.

• Products free of the eight major allergens grew 55% — the same rate that products free of artificial colors grew.
• Items free of artificial sweeteners grew 34%.
• Within body care, sales for items containing “avoiders” or controversial ingredients decreased over the previous two years; talc and triclosan are both down 18%.

What Retailers Can Do

All of these trends tell us that shoppers want more options and more information so they can decide what products fit their personal definition of wellness.

• Evaluate how many items on your shelves are appealing to these growing trends in aisles throughout the store. Do you have the right products?
• Do you have the latest, innovative, new products?
• And lastly, ensure proper signage is at shelf informing and educating shoppers about ingredients, health benefits and various attributes.