Trend tracker: Kids nutrition, longevity, China nutra trading stats

Our top food and beverage trends news from the past month
Find out trends in childhood nutrition, healthy longevity, and China's nutraceutical import and export data in this round-up. (Getty Images)

Find out more about changing trends in childhood nutrition, how food and beverage companies are paying more attention to healthy longevity, and China’s nutraceutical trading data in the first half of this year in this round-up.

Will gummies lose dominance? 3 key market shifts expected in childhood nutrition

Two asian child girls holding sweet candies in thier hands and share to each other
Functional candy for kids is set to be a hot trend (Sasiistock/Image: Getty/Sasilstock)

This year, there has been a shift towards more targeted child supplements designed to meet specific health needs, such as immunity, gut health, and metabolic health, while being carefully tailored to age-appropriate requirements.

Data from Mintel Reports China, Purchasing Food and Drink for Children, 2025 showed that 57% of Chinese parents are most concerned about their children’s weight, signaling broader concerns around their kids’ metabolic health.

Yunn Lim, senior analyst of food science at Mintel, told NI that upcoming shifts in childhood nutrition could surround snackified products, such as jellies, candies, and chocolates.

Cargill, CP Foods, Tate & Lyle on driving healthy longevity in food innovation

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Could links to longevity boost plant-based sales? Source/Getty

Longevity is attracting the attention of not only nutraceutical companies but companies traditionally in the food sector as well.

Cargill, for instance, is looking at how it can support healthy longevity by exploring food solutions that benefit metabolic health, as well as immune health through its postbiotic offering.

Charoen Pokphand Foods (CP Foods), on the other hand, is embarking on a “food as medicine” strategy, where it has identified four pillars to drive the plan forward, the companies said in a panel discussion during the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit 2025 held in Singapore.

China nutra import H1 2025: Australia slides to 3rd place as fish oil demand slows

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Growing evidence for the efficacy of fish oil supplementation to enhance muscle growth has come with a few caveats.(© iStock.com/stocksnapper)

For years, Australia has been China’s second largest nutraceutical exporter, behind only the US, but is overtaken by Germany of late - a trend that started last year and has continued into the first half of this year.

This is according to a report released by China Chamber of Commerce for Import & Export of Medicines & Health Products (CCCMHPIE) on the country’s nutraceuticals import and export in the first half of 2025.

The US has maintained its leading position as the largest nutraceutical exporter to China, followed by Germany, Australia, Hong Kong, and The Netherlands as the top five exporters.

Tariff impact: China health foods exports to US down 12.2% in first half 2025

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Long structural shifts are taking place in the world of trade and globalization, thanks in part to China. Getty/ktsimage (ktsimage/Getty Images/iStockphoto)

China’s health foods exports to the US had fallen 12.2% year-on-year in the first half of 2025 – possibly a result of US tariffs policy – says a report by the CCCMHPIE.

The US is traditionally the largest export destination of China’s health foods products but slipped to the second place, behind Hong Kong.

“America, as the second largest export market, saw export value down by 12.2% in the first half of 2025. As compared to the same period in 2024, which saw a y-o-y [year-on-year] increase of 44.1%, the value of exports to the US saw a visible decline, based on analysis, this could be an impact of tariffs related policy in the first half of the year,” said the report.

Immune support and more: Holistic formulation trending in Vietnam and beyond

Colos IgGold won the Immune Support Product of the Year at the NutraIngredients-Asia Awards 2025.
Colos IgGold won the Immune Support Product of the Year at the NutraIngredients-Asia Awards 2025. (Care For Việt Nam Facebook)

Multi-benefits immune care which goes beyond the use of only vitamin C and D is now the trend, says the winner of NutraIngredients-Asia Awards 2025’s Immune Support Product of the Year.