What’s hot in Health & Wellness as Natural Products Expo West approaches.

The Health & Wellness community is heading to the Natural Products Expo West March 7 – 11 in Anaheim. More than 3,000 brands will be presenting their latest innovations in the industry. As research experts in the Health & Wellness community since 2012, the team at Leger is excited to learn what’s hot, and what’s evolving in the industry.  The conference agenda is packed with sessions on the latest in organic food and beverage, natural beauty, and the latest shopping behaviors from wellness consumers.

What our experts say about the state of health and wellness in 2023.

Leger’s Health & Wellness Research Director, Jenna Varites, is working on the anticipated upcoming study, “The Wellness Toolkit 2023”. In her work with Leger’s proprietary 360 Health & Wellness Community, she is uncovering insights around consumers’ desire to improve their quality of life through holistic, everyday wellness behaviors.

“Some hot topics in 2023 go beyond the more expected topics in food/diet and exercise,” Varites said. “For example, we are watching trends around women’s health, such as consumer interest in healing, spiritual, and sexual health. As it relates to beauty, natural beauty trends are extending to include more gender inclusive beauty and skin care products. Also, trending are biotech tools such as personal lasers, facial tools, and bio-metric apps. Finally, we are also continuing to watch “sober curious” lifestyles including more prepared mocktails and more availability of “spirit free” ticketing at sporting and entertainment events.”

What are the latest product trends?

In the early to mid 2000s, brands focused on labeling products with words including all-natural, organic, antibiotic free, msg-free and sustainably-produced. Now in 2023, these labels are table-stakes. Below are just a few of the new product attributes we see trending in organic, health and wellness products:

1. Stress relieving properties – In 2022, our Consumer Trends Report found that after the pandemic, reducing stress and improving sleep quality are high among consumer health priorities. In fact, 63% of consumers indicated that were seeking food choices with natural sleep ingredients, and 60% of consumers indicated they were seeking beverages with natural sleep ingredients.
2. New applications for CBD-infused products – The same Consumer Trends Report found that CBD-product infusions were trending along with the desire to find stress relief. In recent news, market watchers advised investors of the exploding growth CBD products category. The factors driving new applications of CBD in products were the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases in the U.S., an increase in overall healthcare spending, and the trend to use CBD to treat anxiety, prevent seizures, ease pain, and reduce inflammation. The market alert also noted that the application of CBD was expanding further into the cosmetics, culinary and pharmaceutical product categories.
3. Ingestible skincare – According to Associated Skin Care Professionals, ingestible skincare is rising in demand, and men are a key audience for this trend. These products provide less direct skin benefits than topical skincare products, but nonetheless ingestible skincare is beneficial for improving overall health from the inside out. Common ingredients found in these products include collagen, antioxidants, vitamins A, E, D and more. In the instance of collagen, experts are debating on the benefits of ingesting it as an ingredient. 

4. Sustainability gets specific - 2023’s latest natural beauty products include more specific sustainability features such as “low/plastic free”, “eco-friendly packaging”, “carbon-neutral” and “with efficient shipping”, “made from a reduced carbon footprint” and solar powered processing.

Get the latest insights from our Health and Wellness Research experts.

Since 2012, Leger has been leading brands in the natural, organic, health and wellness communities with including the proprietary 360 Health and Wellness Community.
 
"Our Health and Wellness Community offers qualified respondents with varied interested in better-for-you products, allowing you to read from those who are enthusiastic or obsessed with your category.  The advantage of leveraging our 360 Health and Wellness community is quicker field times at a lesser cost. Over the past 10 years, this resource has saved our clients tens of thousands of dollars on primary research studies, and it supports both quant and qual methods," Varites said. 

To learn how the research team at Leger can help you plan for 2023 and beyond, contact us at solutions@legergroup.com.