If you missed Expo West, we’re bringing the content from the stage straight to you with highlights from our key presentations, covering State of Natural, Supplements, and Beverage.
In this webinar, you’ll learn:
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As we explored the latest insights in our 2026 State of Industries Webinar—spanning Natural Products (NPI), Beverages, and Supplements—the goal was to equip industry professionals with a clear view of what’s driving growth now, where consumer behavior is shifting, and how emerging technology may reshape the path to purchase. This session unpacked how wellness values are persisting amid economic pressure, why function-forward products are winning, and what trends are defining the next phase of innovation. Here’s a recap of the key insights from the session:
The webinar opened with a macro view of the natural and organic marketplace, which has expanded dramatically over the last two decades and is exiting 2025 at roughly $350B in sales. Importantly, growth is being supported not just by price, but by continued consumer demand—units and dollars are both trending upward. Organic remains a major engine of the industry (roughly one-third of total sales, surpassing $70B), with food and beverage leading the way.
The discussion also emphasized that with nearly universal household penetration in NPI, growth is increasingly coming from more trips per buyer and higher spend per trip, rather than “finding new shoppers.” Channel dynamics continue to evolve as well: supermarkets remain the largest player, but club and value-oriented channels are gaining, reflecting how consumers are navigating affordability while still prioritizing better-for-you attributes.
A key theme was that economic conditions aren’t reducing interest in health-forward products—rather, they are changing how shoppers buy them. The presenters described a K-shaped consumer landscape, where higher-income shoppers maintain premium behaviors while lower-income shoppers lean harder into tools like promotions, bulk formats, and private label. Notably, the session underscored that lower-income households are still accelerating their NPI spending, signaling that “health values” remain highly resilient even under budget constraints.
The beverage segment was framed as both one of the most innovative areas in retail and one of the most competitive, with high brand churn and constant new entrants. While overall beverage growth was modest, the strongest gains are concentrated in functional subcategories. Energy drinks remained a major growth driver, while RTD protein continues to rise as consumers “proteinify” their routines.
Another standout message was that mood support is emerging as one of the fastest-growing functional benefits, reflecting a broader consumer pivot toward stress management, relaxation, and sleep-related needs. At the same time, the panel highlighted an ongoing “taking away” trend: sugar reduction continues to shape category performance, with no-sugar beverages gaining share while high-sugar segments lose momentum.
The supplements portion of the webinar emphasized broad-based growth across channels, with especially strong momentum online. Three areas were highlighted as outpacing the department: protein, condition-specific solutions, and performance nutrition—with performance continuing its multi-year run as a top growth engine.
Personalization was positioned as a major accelerant for the category. As consumers adopt wearables, bloodwork, and tracking tools, they are building more individualized supplement routines—often with high daily compliance. The panel also stressed rising consumer expectations for trust signals (brand reputation, clinical support, third-party testing), particularly among younger shoppers who want proof as well as promise.
Among emerging ingredients, creatine was called out as a standout—moving beyond traditional gym positioning into broader wellness use cases, expanding into new formats (including gummies), and showing strong repeat behavior. The session also noted a meaningful inclusion trend: women increasingly entering historically male-dominated segments like creatine and pre-workout, pushing brands to rethink messaging, formulation, and benefit framing.
The webinar closed with a forward-looking discussion about technology’s impact on retail. Consumers are increasingly open to AI-assisted shopping, while many manufacturers and retailers acknowledge they’re not yet prepared for an “agentic” future where automated tools influence brand discovery, comparison, and conversion. The takeaway: brands must prepare not only for the physical shelf and digital shelf—but also for an emerging “agentic shelf”, where product data, claims clarity, and attribute alignment become even more critical.
This session reinforced that the next wave of growth will be driven by a combination of function-forward innovation, resilient wellness values, channel strategy, and readiness for technology-driven commerce. As the industry evolves, brands that simplify benefits, prove efficacy, and meet consumers wherever they shop—human or AI-assisted—will be best positioned to win.
