Another SupplySide Global is in the books, and we're coming home with plenty to talk about.
It's one of our favorite shows for reconnecting with familiar faces and getting a firsthand look at the ingredients, ideas, and innovations shaping what's next. Here are five takeaways that caught our attention and could spark ideas for your business:
1. Supplement formats are getting a major makeover.
An explosion of new supplement formats was one of our biggest takeaways. Consumers are looking beyond traditional pills for more convenient, enjoyable, and integrated ways to get supplemental nutrition. We saw everything from gummies, supplement sprinkles, jelly sticks, and chewing gum to electrolyte popsicles and dissolvable melt strips.
For ingredient suppliers, this opens the door to new formulation possibilities. Whether brands need powders, whole herbs, or cut-and-sifted botanicals, having the right ingredient format can help bring these concepts to life.
2. GLP-1 support remains a growing product category.
The growing interest in GLP-1 medications is influencing innovation across the nutrition industry, particularly in digestive wellness, hydration, and convenient nutrition formats. For brands exploring these emerging consumer needs, traditional ingredients such as ginger root, anise seed, and marshmallow root offer familiar botanical options for developing herbal teas and other beverage blends.
3. Beauty from within is gaining even more traction.
The beauty-from-within trend was noticeable last year, but it was even more prominent this time around. The growing nutricosmetics category reflects a shift in how consumers think about skincare, looking beyond creams and topical products to explore the role of nutrition in their daily routines. Popular nutricosmetic ingredients include sea moss, chlorella, kelp, mushroom powders and botanical powder blends.
4. Botanical extracts are finding new applications.
Demand for botanical extracts and targeted wellness ingredients continues to grow, with applications extending beyond traditional supplements into functional beverages and foods. Alongside that growth comes an expectation for greater transparency, traceability, and documentation throughout the supply chain—from farm to finished extract.
5. Granola is having a glow-up.
Functional food and beverage innovation continues to push familiar categories in new directions, and granola was an unexpected standout. Long considered a defining—and sometimes cliché—food of the natural products movement, granola is getting a modern makeover with ingredients like nootropics, ginkgo, ginseng, mushroom powders, creatine, maca root, and adaptogens.
It's a fun reminder that innovation doesn't always mean creating something entirely new. Sometimes it's about reimagining the familiar.
Get ahead of these trends—shop our selection or reach out to discuss product innovation.
