What’s next for longevity? Connect the dots between functionality, tech and ecosystem

“Consumers are thinking about longevity in a much broader way, encompassing physical performance, emotional well-being, mental resilience, and overall lifestyle empowerment,” said Euromonitor International Senior Client Consultant Jing Yong during her presentation at the trade show.

Speaking on the topic “Health and Longevity in Asia - looking at brand claims on health and sustainability”, she highlighted that growth opportunities now sit at an intersection where categories converge around longevity.

There are three specific growth opportunities brands can tap into to provide a holistic longevity solution – namely functionalization, digitalization and technology and ecosystem.

“Brands that would win in the long term are those that can connect this all together and deliver a more holistic longevity proposition,” she said.

Functionality: Outcomes and formats-led

Functionalization, in particular, is about providing multiple benefit outcomes through different dosage formats, and not merely adding a particular functional ingredient or increasing dosage levels.

“Consumers are no longer just thinking in terms of categories or products. They’re looking for outcomes: better energy, better recovery, better aging, and better health,” said Yong.

Giving the example of South Korean hydration and electrolyte brand Lingtea, she pointed out how the brand has expanded from powder sticks into adjacent formats and benefits, including jelly sticks and PASS MATE – a capsule and shot dual format tonic targeting focus, energy, immunity and eye health.

“The lesson here isn’t just about products, but how a brand is taking a science-led foundation and extending it across multiple formats, multiple locations, and multiple outcomes,” she said.

This philosophy is also reflected in DKSH’s approach to longevity and healthspan, a key theme for the company at this year’s Vitafoods Asia.

At the show, the company exhibited eight concepts for longevity. These longevity product concepts cut across cellular nutrition, skin, metabolic, gut health, active nutrition, essential and preventive health.

Examples of its concept prototypes include jelly strips containing Robuvit French oak wood extract for mitophagy, mitochondrial energy enhancement and liver detoxification, as well as a 10g liquid shot containing Pycnogenol French maritime pine bark extract for anti-melasma, improving skin radiance, hydration and elasticity.

“We see longevity not as a single trend, but as a common thread combining different health areas or goals that consumers care about,” Terence Tan, senior manager, business development, Nutra Ingredients ASPAC, DKSH, told NutraIngredients. “What we want to do is to take science-backed ingredients and turn them into concepts that consumers can relate to.”

With longevity and healthspan being one of the biggest opportunities now, Tan said that the challenge for most brands was to convert this opportunity into practical products for consumers.

Specifically, three key questions usually arise when brands are developing new products.

One is understanding the health benefits that are trending and have an unmet market need; second is knowing the ingredients that are science-backed and third is how to develop formats for different consumer groups.

Digitalization and technology

With greater use of digital tools to collect health metrics and data, companies can tap into these tools to understand and apply these data.

Sleep, heart rate, blood glucose and blood pressure are examples of health metrics commonly tracked.

Brands can make use of these health trackers to guide behavioural changes in consumers.

“The conversation is no longer just around what does this ingredient do in the functional sense, but what does this ingredient make me feel in my day-to-day routine,” she said. “As consumers are becoming more digitally connected to their health, this creates an opportunity for brands to become part of that wellness ecosystem where you’re able to take on the tone of guiding your consumers as well as enabling this behavioural change.”

An example is beauty technology company FOREO, which has expanded into the broader wellness and longevity space.

One of its products, FAQ 202, uses red light therapy for skin brightening, but Yong said that its proposition has since shifted towards recovery, inflammation management, and broader cellular wellness.

“The point here of bringing FOREO up is to reflect the broader shift that we’re seeing across industry where consumers are not just looking for isolated products to fix a problem, but how products integrate with the bigger outcomes that are part of their daily lives,” she said.

Building the ecosystem

Last but not least, companies can introduce not only products but also services and experiences, such as providing nutrition plans, consultations, coaching and even habit-building tools for consumers.

Doing so fits into the ongoing lifestyle evolution in the consumer space.

“As consumers adopt behaviours such as strength training, longevity tracking and stress management, they’re looking at ongoing guidance and support rather than stand-alone products,” said Yong.

She gave the example of the Calbee-AMILI partnership, whereby consumers can receive a customized granola blend containing prebiotics selected based on their gut microbiome profiles.

“The value here is no longer just about AMILI tracking gut health, but it is the combination of that diagnostic, that personalisation, and that nutritional guidance that ultimately Calbee would be customizing a blend for you based on your own health stats,” she said. “What they’re doing here is not just launching another product; it’s helping consumers make better health decisions.”