Speaking during NutraIngredients’ ‘Business of Longevity’ webinar which aired yesterday (June. 18, 2026), Stene revealed 50% of all supplements launched since 2022 have carried some sort of healthspan messaging (NPD tracking tool across 40 countries).
This surge in innovation is a result of the evolution in focus from lifespan to healthspan, with the latter appealing to a wide range of consumers, according to Nick Morgan, founder of active nutrition market intelligence firm Nutrition Integrated.
“Healthy aging has existed for a very long time and a whole load of people later in life have consumed products as a direct response to a problem.
“But over time, living longer with healthier years has become more appreciated.”
Ultimately, this focus on increasing healthy years has led people to think about how what they consume today will impact them tomorrow, he said.
Who are the shoppers, and what do they want?
Mariette Abrahams, founder of personalized nutrition innovation consultancy and intelligence platform Qina, pointed out the perception shift has meant that all ages are now thinking about this topic, with different longevity-related concerns front of mind for each group.
She highlighted metabolic health is a popular focus, thanks to innovations within wearables, technology and supplements and how consumers ability to utilize these to track how they respond on a biological level.
Flora Zwolinski, insight lead at food, drink and nutrition market analysis firm Lumina Intelligence, discussed the platform’s recent global consumer research which revealed longevity as a top priority.
“When we asked consumers to rank their health concerns into their top priorities, aging and longevity were most likely to be ranked number one so it is undeniably a big concern for a lot of consumers.”
It ranked as the third highest priority for women, behind sleep and mental health, but it was the top priority for men, she noted.
Discussing what ingredients were front of mind in this arena, Zwolinski pointed out that the main priorities are the well-established players such as omega-3, multivitamins, vitamin D, and minerals.
“What’s interesting about this market is there’s often a big gap between the general population in their knowledge and understanding, and where the industry is, and ensuring the industry doesn’t go too far and innovate too far ahead of consumers, is key.”
But she pointed out that specific health benefits will resonate much better than vague claims of longevity. With mind health being a focus of much of the science, investment, and marketing right now, she predicted that nootropics, postbiotics and functional mushrooms will start to work their way up the prioritization rank as mental clarity is already high on their radars.
Morgan agreed that ‘new new’ can be hard to market and it can be useful to pair more novel ingredients with well-established ones to create ‘a very powerful combination’.
Fighting the signs of aging
Looking at the ingredients sitting behind longevity messaging, Stene highlighted magnesium as “doing a lot of the heavy lifting in chronic support”.
But he noted magnesium form is an important consideration when it comes to formulation as the format impacts bioavailability, health target, and price, and consumers are increasingly knowledgeable of these nuances.
Immunity appeared on 42% of these healthspan oriented products and skin health appeared on 41%, showing “the fight against aging often involves fighting the visible signs of aging”.
There was a spike in interest in collagen in 2025 which is continuing this year, with hair, skin and nail health claims all spiking, Stene revealed.
He noted that looking ‘healthy’ is closely linked to attractiveness in the consumer’s mind and said skin health is becoming ever more important in a digital profile focused world.
Broad appeal of cellular health
There’s also an increased interest in biological age, cellular health, mitochondrial health, free radicals, autophagy and senescence.
“This has broad appeal and it shows the most promise of all,” Stene said.
There are several cellular health focused ingredients which are growing in interest, including NMN and NAD+ which, despite being unauthorized novel foods in Europe, “escaped the 10% threshold in 2025” so more than one in ten of longevity supplements on the market carried some sort of NAD+ form.
He said there have been a lot of winners in the cellular aging space and described IM8, by US firm prenetics, as “a textbook example of how to play the credibility game”, even when using some of these more controversial ingredients.
The subscription supplement costs an eye-watering €174 a month, yet is tracking to exceed over $100million in its first year of operations, Stene revealed.
“Consumers across the world are willing to pay a large premium if they can be convinced that this promise of healthspan actually holds true,” he said.
“IM8 have crossed that threshold. It brings the kitchen sick of credibility plays. They’ve got the academic proof, links to NASA, certification, celebrity endorsements, and David Beckham as a stock holder and spokesperson.”
However, he warned that regulators are utilizing AI technologies to regulate the market, making them more effective at discovering unauthorized ingredients within supplements.
Formats that fit lifestyle
Stene highlighted an opportunity for innovation in a wider range of formats, noting Japanese product Mocola which has developed a morning pill and evening shot format for its collagen solution.
“The pill and shot, as a format, started in Japan but is spreading across South East Asia. Rohto Pharmaceutical provides a morning pill as a stimulant, which raises energy levels from sleep up to work, with ingredients for immunity to cover the morning commute.
“The collagen shot drink is a relaxer, it helps slow everything down and calm the body with ingredients to support sleep beauty and recovery. This is clever.”
To fit as seamlessly as possible into daily routine, the pill is housed within the lid of the shot, making the solution smart and convenient and to help with the stigma of taking pills in public, he noted.
“The whole thing is answering the work-life balance that’s spinning out of control and I see a lot of innovation coming out of that space, and it’s working really well,” Stene revealed.
