Speaking to NutraIngredients at the Nutrify Today C-Suite SumFlex 2026 in Mumbai, Singh said how consumers discover health products has fundamentally changed, with search behavior increasingly providing brands with insight into unmet needs before products are even developed.
“Data is the key.”
-Somdutta Singh, founder and CEO, Assiduus
“Discovery is faster,” Singh said. “Because we are in such a fast-paced world where discovery drives innovation, data is the key.”
Singh said women’s health is an example of how this shift is creating new opportunities, adding that she became interested in the category after watching her mother, a surgeon, experience early perimenopause.
“When I launched my first brand, which was in 2012, I was passionate about it because I saw my mom go through perimenopause,” she said. “I was like, this needs attention.”
Singh launched her brand Amplicell, which she said continues to sell on Amazon, with women’s sexual wellness among its areas of focus. She recalled that consumers were already turning to online marketplaces to search for sensitive health concerns they might not feel comfortable discussing in a traditional retail setting.
“Women would find it hard to go to CVS and Walgreens and talk about vaginal dryness, but they went and searched on Amazon,” she said.
Today, Singh said those searches have become more specific, extending beyond individual symptoms to questions around life stages, including early perimenopause and menopause.
“Today, it’s gone beyond that,” she said. “It’s no longer just about dryness, estrogen, hormones. It is now even more streamlined, saying, how do I … discover early perimenopausal symptoms? What are the supplements for it?”
For brands, she said that consumer behavior can provide a roadmap for innovation. Rather than launching a product and then attempting to build demand, companies can analyze what consumers are already searching for, identify gaps and then develop products and formats around those needs.
“It starts with symptom clusters,” Singh said, describing a progression from identifying consumer needs to innovation, new formats, discovery and ultimately repeat purchase.
That data-driven approach also extends to how brands decide where to sell. Singh said companies can use consumer data to determine whether they should initially pursue a digital-first or retail-first strategy before eventually expanding across channels.
She also sees generative engine optimization (GEO) becoming increasingly important as consumers turn to AI tools for product discovery.
“Consumer companies have to leverage GEO and the whole AI-led search engine optimization and not the old Google-led search engine optimization,” she said.
Singh cited an example involving Assiduus’ Ecarto platform, where AI-led searches were generating consumer interest before the platform had officially launched.
“Discovery is happening even before you launch.”
-Somdutta Singh, founder and CEO, Assiduus
But while algorithms can identify demand and drive traffic, Singh cautioned that they cannot replace product quality when it comes to building lasting consumer relationships.
“Trust comes from quality,” she said. “One of the most important ingredients of value creation is quality over quantity.”
Looking ahead, Singh expects women’s health to remain a major area of innovation, alongside longevity and children’s health.
“Women’s health will be at the forefront of this,” she said. “Because women are now driving it. We’re no longer taking the back seat, waiting for someone else to do the discovery.”
