Cognitive health is a bright spot for the nutraceuticals sector right now. We explore its prospects as sustainability-led regulation steps up a gear and consumer focus shifts towards the environmental and ethical impacts of ingredients.
Marketed for their value in helping to enhance memory, support mental wellbeing, boost mental clarity, and beyond, cognitive and emotional health supplements and ingredients are today gaining widespread popularity among a diverse demographic pool.
As the segment continues to expand, an evolving regulatory landscape and shifting consumer sentiment regarding sustainability look set to shape the future market for brain-supporting nutraceuticals.
Mental health supplements took off in dramatic style throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and continue to perform particularly well, having emerged as the fastest-growing benefit within the global dietary supplements market.
According to Euromonitor, the category positioned around mood support, stress, and relaxation achieved an impressive 27% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2017 to 2022 in the US, the leading market for mental health supplements today.
And looking at the broader picture, Nutrition Business Journal (NBJ) tracked 7.2% growth for brain health in 2022 (a year when the overall industry grew at just 1.9%), and it predicts the global market for brain health will approach double-digit growth this year and in 2025.
Moreover, growing consumer awareness of an ever-widening array of innovative ingredients – stretching from new sources of the body’s building blocks DHA and choline, to botanicals like gingko, bacopa, and ashwagandha, plus a cornucopia of adaptogenic mushrooms – are allowing formulators to use cognitive and emotional health as an inroad to address a range of other consumer concerns, from weight management and digestive health, to sports nutrition, and other lifestyle needs where considerable overlap exists.
Due to the very nature of the benefits promised by cognitive health products, nutraceutical players should expect enquiring minds to scrutinise product claims related to enhanced brain functioning.
It is a category where the science is complicated and the results are often difficult to showcase, according to NBJ. Yet that shouldn’t prevent brands from going all-in on the research.
Likewise, brands should anticipate consumers the world over will delve deeper into statements surrounding another area that is increasingly deemed a priority when it comes to purchasing decisions: sustainability.
Consumer research suggests that sustainability has shifted in the minds of consumers to the point where it is today seen as an expectation, not merely a marketing message. Individuals are increasingly seeking out sustainable products and environmentally sound packaging – and in response, environmental and ethical claims are emphatically on the rise.
In tandem, many consumers express apathy and distrust with regards to brand assertions over sustainability. This heightened level of consumer expectation (and scepticism) is leading progressive companies (in the cognitive health space and others) to invest considerable time and resources into pursuing all manner of third-party accreditations, including Certified Organic, Fair Trade Certified, B Corp Certification, Upcycled Certified, and Regenerative Organic Certified, among many others.
While the promise of connecting with an expanding army of conscious consumers is the “carrot” that is undoubtedly luring many brands to embark on sustainability-related programmes and initiatives, a number of incoming EU-wide directives (although, in reality, ones that are likely to prove global in reach) will adopt the “stick” approach to drive forward ethical and environmental stewardship in the health ingredients space.
One key example is the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). Set to be enshrined into national law within two years, and to become a reality with respect to the operations of Europe’s biggest players in the supplements space a year thereafter, the CSDDD will send significant ripples throughout the supply chain, all the way back to the primary producers.
Mandatory obligations aside, and beyond being the responsible route for businesses, in a segment where supply constraints are more frequently becoming a risk to the bottom line, ensuring that sustainable practices are fully embedded within the fabric of an organisation will undoubtedly become key to achieving strategic growth in the nutraceuticals segment moving forward.
Interestingly, the connection between sustainability and brain health products could be stronger than might initially be apparent.
Numerous studies have highlighted the psychological and physiological benefits that individuals experience when they engage in pro-environmental and pro-social behaviours. Associated with increased feelings of happiness, satisfaction, and overall wellbeing, and even stimulating the release of “happiness hormone” neurotransmitters such as dopamine and oxytocin, this “warm glow” phenomenon is an interesting aside that points to why, perhaps more than in any other segment, cognitive health supplement players should be looking to drive and capitalise upon their sustainability efforts.
Amidst a tightening regulatory environment, and as the swathe of hyper-connected and sustainability-conscious consumers expands at apace worldwide, attaining and communicating a brand’s environmental and ethical credentials will prove ever more crucial to the success and longevity of businesses across the nutraceuticals space in the years ahead.
