1. Functional nutrition
The functional-nutrition space—made up of food and beverages that claim to deliver health benefits—is expanding. In the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany, approximately half of consumers and two-thirds of Gen Z and millennials say they purchased functional-nutrition products last year. In China, the share of consumers who purchased those products is even higher. More companies are introducing new products, such as fortified foods and supplements, to meet demand. Energy, gut health, immunity, and muscle, bone, and joint support are the most sought-after benefits (Exhibit 4).
This trend has been fueled by the shift toward food as preventative medicine, as consumers are becoming more aware of how food and beverage choices affect their health. Rather than only thinking of healthy food as foods that are free from certain components, such as gluten or sugar, consumers are now looking for foods that include high-value components, such as protein, nootropics,2 or turmeric.
Our research indicates that consumers take a broad view of functional nutrition, which encompasses fresh fruits and vegetables, fermented foods, and protein powders, as well as emerging subcategories like super greens, mushrooms, adaptogens,3 and pre- and probiotic drinks.
From protein-packed potato chips to cognition-enhancing mocktails, a flurry of innovation has hit the functional-nutrition space. Going forward, the products likely to be most successful are not simply healthier alternatives to existing offerings (such as better-for-you candy), but those that exist at the intersection between supplements and food. The taste and texture of these products are table stakes.
2. Beauty
The lines between beauty and wellness continue to blur. A growing number of beauty products feature active ingredients that have health benefits (such as arnica to reduce inflammation or CBD to promote calmness), while more consumers say they are interested in using ingestible beauty supplements that promote wellness from within (such as collagen gummies for skin, hair, and nails).
As shown in Exhibit 1, Gen Zers place a higher priority on appearance than other generations do. “Better appearance” shifted from the sixth-most-important dimension of health and wellness for US Gen Z consumers in 2023 to the third-most-important dimension in 2024; Gen Zers in other markets placed a greater emphasis on appearance as well. These consumers are also purchasing beauty-related products at a higher rate than other generations are. Social media has helped drive this trend.
Spending on cosmetic procedures also grew in the past year. In the United States, 46 percent of consumers (and 53 percent of Gen Z consumers) reported that they spent more on cosmetic procedures in 2024 than in 2023. Looking ahead, Gen Z expects to spend more on cosmetic procedures over the next year. Younger consumers are increasingly seeking anti-aging treatments they consider “preventative,” and are doing so at a younger age than the generations before them did.
As the overlap between beauty and wellness continues to increase, partnerships will become an important driver of relevance and growth for brands. Effective strategies include comarketing complementary products—such as skin care paired with at-home aesthetic devices like red-light therapy masks—and forging unique distribution collaborations, such as those between beauty and wellness players (supplements could be sold in beauty retailers, for example, while beauty products could be sold in fitness chains or health clinics). Partnerships with technology companies also present an opportunity: Using gen AI, beauty and wellness brands can deliver personalized recommendations that enhance the consumer experience.
3. Longevity
In line with our findings last year, demand for products and services to support longevity continues to grow. Up to 60 percent of consumers across markets report that healthy aging is a “top” or “very important” priority. This can mean a range of things to consumers, from supporting cognitive function to preserving one’s independence, living a long life, preventing chronic disease, and keeping energy levels high. A range of products and services have emerged to address these needs, including skin care products targeting long-term skin health and wrinkle prevention, supplements that claim to slow cellular aging, epigenetic age-testing kits, virtual physical therapy solutions, and more.
Longevity-focused products and services are not only for older consumers. There has been a cultural shift among younger generations to take a proactive approach to healthy aging rather than a reactive one. Longevity-focused products and services will continue to appeal to these younger consumers, but retaining these consumers is not without its challenges. Players should emphasize the short-term benefits of their products, in addition to the longer-term merits: A product that claims to improve mitochondrial function in the long term, for instance, could also highlight its immediate benefits, such as higher energy levels or reduced fatigue. Reminding older consumers of their age, meanwhile, could be off-putting to them, so longevity product marketing should focus on meeting specific needs rather than simply making consumers “feel younger.”
4. In-person experiences and wellness travel
Demand for in-person services—spanning boutique fitness, wellness retreats, and IV treatments—has continued to rise as consumers prioritize experiences. Across all the markets we surveyed, consumers reported purchasing more in-person services in this year’s survey compared with the prior year, and we expect this trend to continue.
One standout in our research: boutique fitness classes and wellness retreats. Net purchase intent4 for these offerings was 30 percent, indicating more consumers could spend on these services. (The trend toward purchasing more of these offerings in the next year appears to be strongest in the United States; in the United Kingdom and Germany, for instance, consumers expressed interest in spending on IV drip treatments.) Fifty-six percent of in-person service purchasers in the United States reported traveling two or more hours for wellness retreats and 45 percent reported traveling that same amount of time for thermal therapies or yoga classes. Nearly 60 percent of consumers who traveled for health and wellness treatments in 2024 also said they expect to travel for these treatments in the next year.
As consumers seek out opportunities to reset, digitally detox, and enhance their mental, physical, and spiritual well-being, there are opportunities for travel players (including hotels, cruise liners, and travel planners) to attract new customers. However, consumers also want to learn skills they can use beyond their stay, such as meditation, nutritional regimens, or fitness practices. In response, wellness and travel companies could create more tailored offerings, such as wellness coaches (who engage consumers pre- and post-trip), digitally enabled interventions (such as sleep tracking), and “edutainment” (educational and engaging programming, like menopause-focused retreats that teach women about hormonal health accompanied by treatments).
5. Weight management
Weight management continues to be a focus for consumers around the world. More than one in eight people globally live with obesity,5 and younger consumers in particular report challenges managing their weight. In the United States, 44 percent of Gen Z consumers find it challenging to stay motivated to exercise (compared with 37 percent of consumers overall). These rates are similar to what we observed in the United Kingdom and China, though it is older consumers in Germany who say they struggle with staying motivated to exercise. Meanwhile, more than a third of Gen Z and millennial consumers in the United States and the United Kingdom find it very difficult to manage their weight (versus 27 percent overall).
While exercise remains the most common weight management intervention across markets, others are rising in popularity, including nutritionist-led weight management programs, meal plans, and prescription weight loss medications such as GLP-1s (Exhibit 5).
The wellness ecosystem that has emerged as a byproduct of the GLP-1 boom is driving momentum in this subcategory. Patients who use GLP-1s are focused on meeting their nutritional and health needs while reducing caloric intake, which means that protein- or nutrient-fortified foods, gut health products intended to address digestive discomfort, and workout programs focused on building and maintaining muscle mass are each positioned to grow.
6. Mental health
Whether due to burnout, climate and economic anxiety, social media overuse, or some combination of these factors, young people across markets report having worse mental health than older generations do. But our research finds that they are actively seeking solutions to improve it. Forty-two percent of Gen Z and millennials in the United States say mindfulness is a “very high priority” (versus 29 percent of baby boomers).
There are generational differences in how consumers think about mental health. Younger generations tend to be more attuned to their mental health and open to trying a range of solutions to address it. While older generations tend to think of mental health solutions as those that are explicitly tied to treatment (such as talk therapy), younger generations are adopting a range of behaviors and making unexpected purchases, from skin care regimens to sleep hygiene, fitness routines, and socializing, in the name of improving their mental well-being.
One of the challenges for companies in the mindfulness and mental health space is how to achieve scale. While digital mindfulness apps have made mental health solutions more broad-reaching and accessible, competition is steep and barriers to entry are low. Other wellness-oriented apps, such as those in the fitness or nutrition spaces, compete directly with mental health players when they add mindfulness or meditation content to their platforms. Digital mental health players should ensure they have a clear value proposition, with programming targeted to specific audiences and need states, rather than focusing on general mental health support. Large-scale partnerships can help to boost awareness and brand equity. One mental health player partnered with a global streaming platform to distribute content about meditation, which increased app sign-ups by 70 percent over a year and a half.