Health Food Industry “snacking” upgrading With Functional Gummies On The Rise

The post-90s, who mock themselves as middle-aged, are taking over the "health care" banner from their parents. Eating the most expensive health supplements, staying up the deepest nights, drinking the coldest beer and soaking the reddest goji berries - this generation of young people is using the "punk approach to health" to save themselves from death while demonstrating their last stubbornness.

However, unlike the older generation who love traditional health supplements, this generation of "hardworking and Buddhist" youngsters has become addicted to a colourful "health candy".

With the "halo" of health food

The market for functional gummies has exploded

According to the data from Aimedia Consulting, with the rise of the country's per capita GDP, consumers have undergone a fundamental change in their consumption philosophy and willingness to consume health food.

The health food products will gradually change from optional consumer goods to essential consumer goods..Under the trend of health and functionalization of food, gummy candy with the aura of health food has become a hot product form for new consumer brands and traditional confectionery enterprises on their way to transformation.

As an innovative product dosage form, the application of jellybeans can include most of the popular functional ingredients and is fast becoming an important food carrier for health and nutrition functions.

Industry experts pointed out that functional gummies, as a kind of snacking health product built with reference to snacking gummy carriers, provide consumers with a convenient possibility to maintain health and health care in multiple scenarios, anytime and anywhere.

With the gradual expansion of the functional food market, many functional food start-up brands have emerged against the trend.

BUFFX, a functional food brand established in 2020, has collaborated with an organisation that produces special medical use formulas in its research and development, adding functional ingredients to its gummy candy products, allowing consumers to replenish their nutrition while satisfying their taste buds.

Nelo, on the other hand, is a new energy food product that starts with the late night scenario and launches the explosive Nelo Coffee Chewable series, insisting on a compound formula and striving for multiple effects in one bottle, so that you can have two of them anytime, anywhere and "chew" away multiple health hazards.

In addition, many new consumer brands such as wonderlab, minayo, joliyoyo, super zero and mint health have taken advantage of the situation and launched gummies with different functions.

Meanwhile, many nutraceutical giants have also launched corresponding functional gummy products.

Last year, Amway launched its small n series of snackable nutritional supplements, which included a number of functional gummies, such as lutein ester gummies and vitamin C gummies. BY-HEALTH has also launched a series of new functional gummies, such as conifer cherry vitamin C gummies, collagen gummies, DHA gummies, etc..

According to data from the China Business Industry Research Institute, the global functional food market is expected to exceed 600 billion yuan in 2022, and sales of functional confectionery will exceed US$8.6 billion.

Throughout the consumer market, the current "functional +" gummy candy track is thriving and bustling. From tablets and capsules to gummy jelly, functional snack foods are creating a $100 billion market.

Driven by young people's health consumption

What is the magic of the "empowered" gummy candy?

According to the "Young people's health consumption trend report" released by CBNData, the first financial business data centre, more than half of China's "post-90s" are suffering from hair loss, hair fall and weakened vision, while about 40% are obese and have reduced exercise capacity, and another 30% are suffering from reduced immunity.

From the consumption side, health consumption has become a regular demand for more and more young people. A consumer trend report released by Tmall shows that in the past year, emerging consumers' pursuit of "health" and "beauty" has led to a "quick digestion" of health and wellness, and when it comes to When the "empowered" gummy candy meets the young people who are caught in the anxiety of health, even in the prevailing concept of low sugar and no sugar, it still becomes the meat and potatoes of punk health in the eyes of young people.

Then what on the earth the magic does gummy candy have?

High-value appearance to meet the trend of "value worship" among young people

In the era of face value being justice, as long as the appearance of a product is beautiful and distinctive enough, it can make young people willing to share it and become their social talking point, so that the power of word-of-mouth can quickly ferment the volume of sound and eventually become a "pop product".

The appearance of functional gummy candies is either made in the shape of cute and soft kittens and puppies, or in the form of colourful flowers, stars and hearts, and the packaging is also mostly in the style of youthful coolness and cute healing, which coincides with the trend of "face worship" among young people and successfully arouses their attention and consumption desire.

Precise insight into the unmet needs of young people

The emergence and existence of all new consumer categories is the result of insight into an unmet need.

Functional gummies fill the gap between ordinary food and health products - they are more effective than ordinary food, making dietary supplements more targeted and efficient, but without the attributes of health products, which do not bring stress, and eliminate the need to "follow medical advice" at every turn. The high threshold of "following medical advice" is eliminated.

Psychologically, it greatly reduces the burden on young people

Traditional health care brands, with their ageing brands, outdated visuals and crude designs, are difficult to approach.

For example, the pharmaceutical-style design of capsules and tablets gives the psychological implication that you are a bit sick and need a cure.

However,the gummy candy, with its confectionary properties, is a more snack-like form that is "snacking" on health supplements, providing young people with a convenient and fun way to snack on them, which not only meets their health needs, but also reduces their psychological burden and is better accepted, as they can still pretend to be snacks even though they are taking supplements. .

All in all, with the unprecedented increase in awareness of health and wellness among young people today, and the existence of real-life pain points such as "staying up late", "overwork" and "insomnia",however, health supplements are not a substitute for medication and young people need to spend money to buy peace of mind, and functional gummies, which are more like snacks, are a good choice.

The "snacking" of health supplements

It's becoming an industry trend

In the eyes of young people, health supplements cannot be taken as medicine or as a meal, but they can be eaten as a snack.

In addition to various types of functional gummies, the health food industry has also seen the emergence of protein bars, enzyme jelly, fibre biscuits and other functional foods.

The survey report points out that compared to traditional health ingredients that need to be steamed, boiled, stewed or simmered to be consumed, young people prefer ready-to-eat and snackable nutritional products, and the snacking of health products has become an inevitable trend in the industry.

At the same time, as the needs of young people are upgraded, consumption is also upgraded. They pay more attention to quality and health, adjusting nutritional balance by "eating healthy", and the focus is also shifted from health treatment to prevention, in order to achieve the purpose of health maintenance, showing a strong purchasing power in health products.

Firstly, in terms of product form, there is a trend towards snacking.

Young people are becoming the new force in purchasing health products, and their consumption needs for health products are very different from those of the middle and old age groups.

They reject taking health products like medicine, but prefer nutritional supplements that are as delicious and convenient as snacks and have health functions.

In response to the needs of young people, health food products are moving away from capsules and tablets, with drinks, gummies, jellies and milkshakes taking up a larger market share, a sign of the trend towards snacking on health food.

Secondly, from a functional point of view, the rise in the market size of nutritional supplements is also a reflection of the trend towards the snacking of health food products.

According to China's Food Law, health food is divided into two categories: one is nutrient supplements with vitamins and minerals as the main raw material and for the purpose of supplementing human nutrition, and the other is food claiming to have specific health functions.

Among them, nutritional supplements generally exist in concentrated form and can make up for dietary deficiencies, but cannot replace ordinary food or serve as a substitute for meals. In this sense, nutritional supplements, and snack foods as opposed to staple foods are somewhat similar.

In terms of the growth rate of the market, nutritional supplements have been on a clear and continuous upward trend, with most of the growth rate remaining at around 10% between 2006 and 2010, with only a slowdown in 2009 and a faster growth rate of around 15% since 2011, thus promoting the trend of snacking on health food.

Furthermore, the policy of the State Administration of Market Supervision has been gradually improved, and more and more food products have been filed for inclusion in the use of health food products.

All along, functional confectionery has been in a grey area of development, and although it can be filed as ordinary food, it has to bear the risk of false propaganda.

In February this year, the State Administration of Market Supervision included gel confectionery in food form into health food filing dosage forms. With the addition of functional "trappings" claimed by health food, functional confectionery has not only catered to the trend of new generation consumers, but also brought the nutrition and health care industry back to the healthy development path of food.

Driven by the new wave of consumption such as "fat reduction" and "health maintenance", young people are becoming more and more aware of health maintenance, and it is difficult for traditional food to meet their requirements, so more and more people will choose functional health food.

According to data, as of 2019, the functional food market has reached 358.58 billion yuan and is still in the midst of continuous expansion, and the snacking of health food is also a major trend.

At present, it seems that health food snacking has developed and matured into a regular consumer product in Europe, America, Japan and other countries, while China is currently in the preliminary stage, with an estimated market of hundreds of billions of dollars waiting to be released. The boundaries are gradually blurring, new possibilities are bursting forth and new forms of creation are secretly fermenting, so we look forward to a new chapter from the brands in the functional food track.