This week’s headlines included Alibaba revealing China’s top supplement categories, Danone acquiring Huel, and a new study from Nestlé on B vitamins and muscle repair.
Alibaba Tmall breaks down biggest health foods categories in China
Vitamin and mineral supplements, cardiovascular health supplements and kids nutrition are the three biggest nutraceutical categories in China in terms of sales revenue, according to major e-commerce channel Alibaba Tmall.
Li Donghui, a senior expert of Health & Wellness Industry Research & Operations at Alibaba Health Tmall, revealed new trends data and emerging opportunities in China’s health foods sector during his presentation at the Bo’ao Food for Health Science Conference and Expo 2026 (FHE 2026) held in Hainan, China on March 11 to 15.
Vitamin and mineral supplements accounted for nearly 25% of all dietary supplement sales on Tmall last year, followed by cardiovascular health and kids’ nutrition, with over 15% and nearly 10% of sales from these two categories, respectively.
According to Li, vitamin and mineral supplements, despite being a mature category, are still growing fast in China.
This is because vitamin and mineral supplements are often the first products used by new users.
“There has been a rapid development in social media, including social commerce, in the last few years, and this is how people are being exposed to dietary supplement products and new users would typically start with multivitamins and calcium supplements,” said Li.
The second largest segment is the heart, brain, and blood vessel health category, where products like fish oil and co-enzyme Q10 are the most purchased products.
Danone expands complete nutrition portfolio with Huel deal
French food giant Danone announced its acquisition of British meal-replacement brand Huel in a €1 billion deal to tap into the fast-growing market for functional, complete nutrition and accelerate its shift toward health-focused products.
The purchase supports Danone’s strategy to grow in functional and complete nutrition, expanding its product range into a fast-growing market, Antoine de Saint-Affrique, CEO of Danone SA, shared in a press statement.
“What they [Huel] have achieved in the fast-growing complete nutrition space fully resonates with Danone’s mission of delivering health through food,” he said.
“Combining their range and best-in-class digital capabilities with Danone’s global reach and deep nutritional expertise offers exciting opportunities in the new and fast-growing nutritionally complete space, in line with our Renew Danone strategy.”
Originally based in Buckinghamshire in the UK, Huel was co-founded in 2015 by Julian Hearn and James Collier with a mission to provide nutritionally complete, convenient, and environmentally friendly meal replacements. The company name is a portmanteau of “Human” and “Fuel”.
It traditionally focused on ‘complete food’ products designed to address the challenges of modern eating habits by providing all essential nutrients and phytonutrients in a plant-based format, with Huel’s original and primary products formulated from ingredients like oats, rice protein, pea protein and flaxseed.
In recent years, it began introducing a broader range of functional foods, drinks and snacks, including the Daily A-Z Vitamins drink in 2023 and its Daily Greens powder in 2024. The company’s range now consists of a ready-to-drink daily greens product, a light version of its nutritionally complete meal replacement drink, hot meals, and a functional vitamin treat bar.
Vitamins B3 + B6 may boost muscle repair after exercise
A combination of vitamins B3 (nicotinamide) and B6 (pyridoxine) may stimulate muscle stem cells and accelerate muscle regeneration and repair after high intensity exercise, according to data from a randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial.
“Our findings on the positive effect of NAM/PN supplementation on MuSCs [muscle stem cells] and myofiber regeneration have direct opportunities for clinical translation for the management of sport-related muscle damage, where boosting regeneration can accelerate the repair process and could be combined with dietary protein strategies for enhanced muscle recovery,” the researchers wrote in Advanced Science.
“Our findings could also have implications for a wide range of muscle disorders in which compromised MuSC function and muscle regeneration are pathological hallmarks. Notably, sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass, strength and function, is in part characterized by a decline in MuSC function and number, resulting in compromised regenerative capacity of skeletal muscle.”
The study was conducted by scientists from Copenhagen University Hospital, the University of Copenhagen, Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences and Nestlé Health Science.
