31st of October 2024

Current consumer trends and upcoming health priorities with Will Cowling

Episode #4 of our podcast with a special guest Will Cowling of FMCG Gurus.

We discussed current consumer trends in the nutraceutical market and health priorities that will gain popularity in the future with Will Cowling, commercial manager at FMCG Gurus.

Highlights:

00:00 Introduction
01:25 Current health areas of concern
04:08 Top-of-mind supplement ingredients, claims, and product formats
05:46 Addressing several health areas at once
06:52 How cost of living is affecting consumers
08:42 Recent consumer surveys
09:09 Emotional wellness
09:55 Hydration & sports nutrition products
11:17 Digital health & personalized nutrition
15:08 How to use FMCG Gurus data for strategy and new product development
17:21 Important factors for consumers that make a product stand out
18:47 Mushrooms
19:42 Energy
21:17 Strategy tips for brand owners

our guest: Will Cowling.

Will Cowling is the Commercial Manager at FMCG Gurus, a research and insights platform that specializes in analyzing consumer behaviors and market trends in the food, beverage, and health sectors. The platform provides in-depth consumer insights, helping businesses understand evolving trends like health-consciousness, convenience, and premiumization. With nearly a decade of experience, Cowling plays a pivotal role in overseeing the development of brand and marketing strategies, aimed at driving the company’s growth.

transcript.

Matevž Ambrožič
Hello ladies and gentlemen, listeners of our podcast, welcome to another edition of PharmaLinea podcast. My name is Matevž Ambrožič, I’m the Marketing director at PharmaLinea and I’m very happy to be joined here today by Mr. Will Cowling, who is the Commercial manager at FMCG Gurus. FMCG Gurus are the experts on consumer insights. Will will explain a little bit more where he’s coming from and what your company does basically.

Will Cowling
Yes, thank you Matevž. FMCG Gurus, we are a market research company that specializes in consumer insights. We’re helping food, beverage, and nutrition companies better understand what is it that consumers want when it comes to health and well-being, when it comes to areas like sustainability claims, ingredients, so then they can have a better understanding on how to develop better products to meet the consumer needs of the 2024.

Matevž Ambrožič
Perfect, and I’m sure now you can understand why Will is with us here today. They have very good insights, launch many new surveys year by year, you can see really cool stuff about what consumers want. I can tell you from first hand that it’s really useful insights for both NPD, just general strategy, how we want to communicate about products, and so forth. So I’m very happy that Will can explain a little bit about FMCG Gurus’ latest findings. Maybe to begin with I will just give you a pretty open question, what is perhaps, what you want to point out, is changing in consumer sentiment recently about supplements or maybe which indications, with which health areas people are more or less concerned about these days?

Will Cowling
Yeah, definitely. So we obviously had the pandemic a couple of years ago now and it really drove the proactive consumer to look into areas like immunity, following on from that digestive health as well, which is a really big space. So as we know during 2020, 2021, 2022 you’d go into the shop, you’d see an immune boosting product, there was immune boosting products everywhere because everybody was so focused on being preventative to disease and illness and staying a little bit more … being less vulnerable to disease. They wanted to stay as healthy as possible, so then they didn’t catch anything and immunity was really really big for these consumers. But now that we’ve sort of gone back to everyday life, there’s been a big change. I think many consumers are taking the approach away from hard health and going to that day-to-day health approach where they’re looking into more day-to-day areas like their mood, their energy, looking into their mental well-being, recognizing that this is actually a key driver to overall well-being when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle. So when it comes to new areas, I think immunity has actually fallen off within some of our findings. It’s still really important to consumers to address their immune health, to be proactive when addressing it as well, but I think everybody’s now focused a little bit more on sort of that day-to-day health approach. What key area do I need in my day to lead a better, healthier lifestyle, what’s important to me, what is the value for me to lead a healthier lifestyle in today’s life.

Matevž Ambrožič
So what kind of products do you think that translates to, interest in which kinds of products? Which kind of categories do you think?

Will Cowling
I think in terms of products, I think supplements is a really big product category for this area. I think a lot of consumers are open to trying supplements now, they’re looking into supplements for a number of different areas. So, for example, even myself, I use lots of different supplements in my everyday lifestyle for my stress and sleep management, even for my energy, for lots of different things. Just my overall wellness, as well cognitive function. So I think people are a little bit more open to trying supplements, especially now that they recognize and they’re being proactive towards addressing areas like their mood, their energy levels throughout the day. So I think that does correlate into supplements becoming a lot more integrated into everybody’s day and life.

Matevž Ambrožič
Right and can you give us a little bit more specifics about supplements in particular? I believe you do have a survey where you explore a little bit more about what kind of ingredient claims, product formats, and so forth, are top of mind for consumers.

Will Cowling
Yeah, so with supplements a lot of consumers can be cautious about efficacy firstly, they want the product to work. I think there’s been over the couple of last couple of years a lot of supplements which have just been passed over Amazon or something like that, which haven’t been very effective, which has impacted consumer decisions on this, so I think efficacy is really crucial. And when it comes to efficacy, consumers are looking at sort of the traditional tablets, capsules which they recognize, they know they trust these areas. But then there has been a lot of growth when it comes to areas like gummies as well, so even here at Vitafoods we see that gummies is a big innovation space and I think it’s driven by consumers because they want that sensory appeal from supplements. So typically what we’ve seen, consumers can actually struggle to take supplements for a long period of time. They’re normally sort of on and off, not very consistent with their supplement usage and I think that’s due to maybe being hard to swallow, or the ease of use for these. And I think supplements with such as gummies, which offer that sensory appeal, the ease of use, the extra flavor, “the fun”, makes it a little bit more exciting for the consumer and I think that’s really really crucial today as well in order to keep consumers turning to a longevity approach when it comes to taking them.

Matevž Ambrožič
Right, and do you think that, do you see in your data that the share of consumers that take more than one supplement, if you know by chance, is it growing, do we see more and more consumers that have a big array such as yourself at home, and how does that affect our product development decisions? Do we need to be more varied in the in the delivery formats or is it easier for consumers to take just multiple pills and be over with it or is it better to put products in formats such as sprays and gummies and liquid sticks, stuff like that?

Will Cowling
Well, we’ve actually seen that many consumers want multifunctional claims within a supplement. So they do want a supplement that has multifunctional benefits just for the ease of use, so they’re not having to take too many different supplements. Maybe I’m just a little bit different, I like all my different supplements with all the different ingredients separately, but there from our research we’ve seen that multifunctional claims and multifunctional benefits are really important to the consumer. And again I think that then comes down to the cost of living as well, so we’ve just recently launched our cost of living -price sensitivity surveys, and consumers may be a little bit concerned about spending so much money on multiple different supplements because they can be expensive. So they want something which isn’t necessarily a magic health pill solution with just an all-in-one blast, but they do want those multifunctional benefits, especially when it comes to different health areas from one supplement.

Matevž Ambrožič
So do you find that inflationary pressure, increased cost of living has affected consumption or has it in the sense of reducing consumption or actually supplements being thrown out of the basket? Or is it just affecting the type of supplement that people are buying such as you mentioned multifunctional supplements?

Will Cowling
I think a little bit of both. I think consumers may be reducing some of what they spend on areas like health and well-being, whether this be supplements or even functional food and beverage products as well. But I think, what’s really important for the industry is to showcase value from our research. We’ve seen that value isn’t just low cost, it’s actually understanding the consumer needs, understanding what is it that they want in order to lead a healthier lifestyle. Because consumers are still being proactive towards their health no matter what the cost of living is. Consumers are still addressing their health, still wanting to lead a healthier lifestyle, so making sure that we can understand what areas to target, specifically with our messaging, with our ingredients, with our claims, that’s going to be really important to keep these consumers purchasing. Because from what we’ve seen in our surveys if they’re getting the value from that product, they’re still willing to purchase that product or even trade up on that product whilst cutting out things which they not necessary need in their everyday lifestyle.

Matevž Ambrožič
I understand, it makes complete sense, and you have the data to back it up. I think it can lead into some interesting product development decisions as well. I wanted to ask you, you launch new surveys, new topics that you ask consumers about probably every year or maybe I’m mistaken, and what are some of the new ones that you launched recently and why? Because I think that’s a good indicator of an interesting area also for brand owners if you’re investigating it.

Will Cowling
Of course, yeah, so we’ve just launched two new areas – metabolic health and emotional wellness. I think emotional wellness is a really really crucial one and it sort of links on to what we’ve just been talking about from that everyday sort of health. So within this survey we’re really looking at sort of mood/energy levels, hydration and we’ve sort of launched this because we talk to a lot of our clients, we recognize what’s going on in in the market, and along with our surveys. So with accumulation of talking to clients going out into the market, surveying these consumers, and making sure we understand what’s of interest to them, that’s sort of where we’re seeing this trend evolve. So that’s why we really wanted to push an emotional wellness survey out, to sort of help our clients understand what is it about emotional wellness, where we can target consumers, because it can mean so many different things.

Matevž Ambrožič
You mentioned a keyword that kind of got my attention, that was hydration. It’s interesting that you started tracking that, I think a lot of the people at this show also, at Vitafoods, are talking about hydration, asking us about hydration. I think it’s made its way from just sports nutrition to everyday well-being, just general population. Do you see something like that in your survey or maybe it’s because it’s new, the results are just coming up? Is that why you started asking people about hydration as well?

Will Cowling
Yeah, so I think it was a big topic, but we also heard around from our clients and what we’d seen from the sports nutrition market as well, we know that consumers are turning to sports nutrition products. They’re a lot more mainstream now, people are just … it’s not just everyday gym goers or performance athletes turning to sports nutrition, it’s actually the everyday person. I know lots of people who do no sports whatsoever who take a protein shake now or have a protein bar instead of like a traditional chocolate bar. So I think it’s crept its way into the mainstream and a lot more of consumers as they do become proactive to address their health are really addressing, looking to sports nutrition products to get that better-for-you boost within their everyday lifestyle. I think that’s where hydration has then come into it as well. I think it’s a really really big space to explore a little bit further into.

Matevž Ambrožič
I wanted to also ask you about wearables, specifically digital health of course it’s been a topic for some time now and it’s not … we’re not going to discover something completely new and revolutionary right now, but what I think is lacking or where it hasn’t really translated into many concrete products or connection of supplement products to digital technology. Is our industry a bit slow in that uh aspect? There are technologies out there, we see new sensors, new trackers, new apps being launched quite frequently. Is it our consumers, you’re the expert on consumers, so what’s the attitude of consumers towards these technologies? Are they willing to use them, are they interested in them, how is their attitude, what is their attitude like towards data sharing, and can supplement companies utilize this?

Will Cowling
Yeah, definitely. I think consumers are open to it. I think with something like this, it depends on the cost as well because it’s going to be quite expensive for a number of consumers to turn to this. So there has to be that balance I think with sort of cost and value for the consumer. But from what we’ve seen, we we’re launching our personalized nutrition survey again, so really looking into how can we get a personalized feel for nutrition for consumers and I think it links really nicely into supplements. And I think from what we’ve seen there is consumers are open to sharing DNA testing, for example, sharing their data about their own body and about their health in order to understand it and in order to improve it. And I think that does again drive from that proactive consumer group and I think there is a big opportunity for technology to start capturing some of that data where consumers will be open to it, if then they can get some extra value from it. There’s a really really cool company in the UK, I think they’re called Nourished, and what they do is they do sort of DNA testing online. Tests, where then they would 3D print a supplement gummy which actually meets the needs of that specific consumer and it’s done via subscription based model and I think that’s really really popular. There’s also other companies like Zoe who would then … you would scan or do a test and then you get your own sort of prescribed “Okay, this is what you need for your body.” And I think that’s also growing really popular as well, so it’s showing that consumers are interested in getting a personalized feel to their supplements, to their health. So they’re actually addressing something which they know they actually need and again that comes back to value. If they know, they need it, they’re going to spend the money on it. And that’s where I think there is a really good growth opportunity for wearables, technology, DNA testing in order for consumers to understand themselves better, in order for them to get value from specific products such as supplements.

Matevž Ambrožič
I agree and I’m glad you mentioned Zoe actually because incidentally a few weeks ago, if I’m not mistaken, there was a clinical study published on the use of Zoe and how it improved overall well-being compared to SE products. And this study was not just any study, it was published in Nature, in the Journal of nature I think it was, with Nature medicine or different a different one of these sub-brands, but a really big move. So personalized nutrition is I think also making its way from this kind of a bit more abstract DTC type of digital native type of brand to something very, it could be a little bit more medicalized in the future. So I’m glad to see there’s clinical substantiation behind that as well and if you say consumers are willing to go into that direction, it may become a little bit more of a mainstream category. All right Will, I wanted to ask you a little bit more about consumer insights, you know um it’s always interesting to look at the data, look at the graphs, look at the infographics that you produce. But can you share a bit of examples, maybe one example or two how brands or formulators or it can be even contract manufacturers, how they use this kind of data, what is a smart example of the use, a concrete example of the use of this type of data in strategy and NPD, any kind of process within our industry?

Will Cowling
For consumer insights, it can be used across the whole chain really from what we’ve seen because we work with a lot of B2C companies but also B2B companies as well. And I think it’s really important that the B2B companies, from what my clients are saying is that they understand the end user, so then they can develop new products which are actually meeting the needs of the consumer. And I think it then helps with NPD, so we help the company understand a little bit more about mushrooms, functional mushrooms, really really big space, especially in sort of health and well-being and sort of what is the interest level there around mushrooms, are consumers aware of specific mushrooms, are they interested in them, do they associate them with specific health benefits, and what this really helps the clients to do is to understand “Okay, what direction should we move in with our NPD, where should we sort of … which angle should we approach this with?” But then also when it comes to their finished product “What claims can we use in order to be attractive to the consumer, which claims, which ingredients should we push at the forefront of the packaging, in order to make sure that we’re getting the most traction from the consumer, and the most success?” Because the supplement world is very very busy, there’s a lot of supplements out there, if you go to a store or a health store and you see the supplements on the on the shelves, how can you differentiate yourself? Consumers will take matter of seconds when looking at different supplements before they make a choice, so making sure that you’ve got the right claims, the right ingredients, the right messaging on the packaging is really really important for our clients to understand, so then they can actually stand out a little bit better as well. And that’s how a lot of our clients would use our consumer insights.

Matevž Ambrožič
So you mentioned standing out on the shelf. Just in case you didn’t cover the entirety of it, I want to dive a little bit deeper into that. Which do you think are the multiple factors that affect or that contribute to standing out on the shelf and which are the most important ones in consumer’s eyes? What is the thing that affects in your view, from your data, consumer purchasing decision the most? Ss it the claims, or is it maybe other factors as well?

Will Cowling
Yeah, I think claims and ingredient and the messaging is really crucial. I think that’s the first thing consumers would look at. But then you also got to take into sort of branding as an example as well. I think we you’ve got to look at the colors, you’ve got to look at … I was at an innovation day recently, where we were talking about nutritional supplements, and somebody was saying, why don’t we innovate with the packaging a little bit better. If you look in the store, everything’s always the same sort of packaging in the supplement world. Why can’t we be a little bit more creative there to stand out? Different shaped bottles, different shaped packaging, different kinds of packaging for consumers to be a bit more excited about. Because if there’s so many other the same bottles, what you see all the time along the top, it’s going to be really difficult to stand out. So why not innovate with packaging even and do something a little bit crazy, do something a little bit different, which meets your brand your messaging, to make consumers feel a little bit more excited about the products.

Matevž Ambrožič
All right, all right, that’s a good one. And I want to jump back a little bit to the mushrooms that you mentioned, and the health benefits that consumers associate mushrooms with, could you share which ones stood out or which ones were mentioned by consumers? What do they associate mushrooms with? Because we of course see the trend of mushroom growth in in the Americas. I wonder if it’s maybe … if the awareness or the popularity is a bit different region to region as well?

Will Cowling
I think from what we’ve seen in terms of mushrooms, I think it’s a lot to do with cognitive function, mind, stress, and sleep. I think they’re some of the the key areas of health, where consumers are looking towards functional mushrooms. We are launching a new survey, which is going to track a number of these again, I think in Q3, so I’ll be able to share a lot more insights into it then. But for now that’s all I can really say.

Matevž Ambrožič
All right, and you mentioned energy in your healthy ageing survey. Recovery, energy as well in this kind of new day-to-day health segment that you see is growing with consumers. Do you perhaps know if there’s a tendency towards caffeine or is there more growth in the caffeine-free segment? And because coming from the topic of energy we see a lot of brands doing really well and then causing new product launches from other brands as well in this kind of coffee alternative mushroom concoction that is mostly based on mushrooms, like lion’s mane and so forth. So yeah, that’s my question.

Will Cowling
Yeah, yeah. I think caffeine is obviously going to be one what consumers recognize, they understand. I think when it comes to energy one really important matter is that consumers want it natural. They want natural energy, they don’t want anything artificial, they don’t want things which are going to be detrimental to their health. So making sure that it’s natural. So ingredients, which are seen as clean label, natural, for them is going to be really driving for them in terms of the mushroom regarding energy again, that’s something we’re going to be able to track through the new survey, making sure we can understand awareness around what health benefits they associate with these. So there’s going to be some really interesting findings coming later this year regarding that.

Matevž Ambrožič
Very good, looking forward to those findings. As a last, final thought perhaps, if you were speaking to a brand owner right now, and in our audience we have quite a few, what would you tell them to look out for in their strategy in the coming year? Would it be focusing on discovery, I mean entering new health areas, would it be focusing on multifunctionality, would it be focusing on increasing value perception for consumers, traceability, connecting to digital health? What would you pick to really give advice to a brand owner?

Will Cowling
I would say all of them, but I think value is really important at the moment. Making sure that you’re meeting the needs of the consumers to showcase extra value, not just cutting your prices and making sure you’re the lowest one out there, because with a supplement you want it to be the … efficacy is really important as well, so if the price is low, consumers will look at the product and go “Okay, this is good because the price is low, but maybe it doesn’t work.” So with something like a supplement, which is really crucial in terms of efficacy, it’s important you provide that value there as well. So I think that’s going to be the key message for brand owners to really understand how can we create value. Whether this be through multifunctional claims, whether this be through innovation in different formats to create sensory appeal. I think value as a whole is the crucial area we need to focus on.

Matevž Ambrožič
Perfect, Will, that’s great and I think very actionable insights that our audience can take home. And with that I’d like to conclude this episode and thank you really very much for talking to us. Well thank you for being with us and thank you also to our listeners and see you next time.

Will Cowling
Thank you.

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