Why? CPG Radar’s Afif Ghannoum said excitement has quickly turned into healthy skepticism.
“We’re seeing like 150% jump in searches for NAD research, but we’re seeing plummeting consumer purchase intent because what they’re basically seeing is the preclinical promise is not necessarily translating into clinical reality of efficacy, ao that’s an alarm bell going off for longevity ingredients in general,” Ghannoum said, adding that brands must connect abstract concepts like cellular health to measurable, tangible benefits consumers understand, similar to how cholesterol impacts heart health.
Ghannoum is the CEO and founder of CPG Radar, a company that harnesses big data to drive innovation and strategy across the dietary supplement industry. He said he is witnessing a cooling sentiment around some big ingredients such as NAD+, leading consumers to gravitate towards other solutions like NAD precursors like NMN and resveratrol instead.
“They’re starting to really look at precursors, stacking precursors with NAD, things like NMN,” he said. “We’re seeing a lot of these conversations where people buy into the idea that these ingredients in some fashion can help with longevity, but what’s the actual payoff?”
In order to communicate that payoff, Ghannoum said brands should focus on adapting their storytelling and product development in a way that bridges the gap between scientific curiosity and actual purchasing behavior.
“They’re going to have to start gravitating towards putting actual science with actual benefit areas,” he said. “This idea of longevity and long-term aging—it’s not enough for consumers anymore. They want to know what the payoff is, especially because the value to pricing, consumers are starting to feel it’s not there. These are expensive products, so to command that sort of premium pricing, there’s got to be a premium payoff for the consumer.”
