Speaking during an end of year webinar hosted by Mariette Abrahams, CEO and founder of digital health consultancy Qina, industry expert Nard Clabbers, founder of NCNC Nutrition Consultancy, said that trust and transparency are non-negotiables for success in the personalized nutrition industry.
Interaction, not perfection
Clabbers noted that in order to build trust, services have started to move “from darts to beach ball” in terms of the structure their services.
“Previously, personalized nutrition was very much about hitting the right target with a lot of tests and blood draws, he said. ”There was a lot of focus on information we need to extract from you to give you the best personalized advice.”
However, he explained that companies have started to move beyond this to provide ‘interactive nutrition’ services, working with the consumer to “try to hit the ball as many times as possible” through two-way communication.
“I think this is a strong metaphor for how personalized nutrition should be,” he said. “Think about what’s the first bit of advice I give and how can I immediately get feedback from the consumer in order to make my feedback even better, and how can I make this interaction fun and valuable.”
Clabbers suggested it is important to allow the consumer to articulate their own goals at the beginning of the journey and for services to provide repeated data collection opportunities through tests and questionnaires.
He said that all of this will keep the consumer engaged over a longer term.
Solve real problems, not just offer tech
Joshua Anthony, CEO and founder of personalized nutrition and health consulting company Nlumn, said Clabbers’ view underpinned what he considered to be the biggest trend to watch for 2026—defining a problem to solve.
He argued that that the focus has been on the technology and tests available and the biomarkers that can be tracked rather than on consumer needs.
“I think we’ve gotten there not as purposefully as we had hoped,” he said. “As a consumer, how do you develop trust if something doesn’t feel personalized to you?”
For example, Anthony noted that there is a lot of interest and innovation in women’s health and GLP-1 but that there are many niche needs within those audience.
“Changes with age and stage and treatment generate a lot of need for more personalized solutions based on the unique needs of individuals on those programs,” he said.
Smarter partnerships and ecosystems
The experts agreed no one should try to be the personalized nutrition service for everyone.
Anthony highlighted that successful companies will focus on solving specific, meaningful problems rather than trying to be everything to everyone.
“Focus on designing things well and reducing your costs because your ecosystem doesn’t have to be so broad,” he said. “If somebody does a great job of solving the side effects related to GLP-1 use, I don’t know that person needs to solve concerns about nutrient deficiencies or muscle loss, too.
“They could, that could be an expansion for them, but make sure you get that first part right before you move to the second part.”
In line with this, partnerships between companies will become a great way to provide all-round solutions, with the experts forecasting that the market will see more mergers in the coming years.
