Industry faces trust test as AI reshapes health information
Consumer trust cannot be taken for granted as AI-generated information and increasingly informed audiences reshape how people assess brands and health claims, delegates heard at Vitafoods Asia in Bangkok.
Brands can no longer rely on a single approach; they need to understand different cultures, values and audience expectations, said Gillian Fish, business growth strategist and founder of The 6AM Agency, in a presentation on ‘Brand Trust in the Age of AI, Outrage and Infinite Noise’.
As health information becomes more accessible, audiences are also more likely to scrutinize brands’ claims, she said.
Beauty supplements on the rise in SEA as awareness and spending power grow – Swisse
There is an increasing uptake of beauty supplements across South East Asia (SEA) as consumer awareness and spending power rise, according to Swisse.
Nick Mann, CEO for Asia, Australia & New Zealand of H&H Group, told NI that the brand has been experiencing “almost exponential growth” in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Singapore, Cambodia and Mongolia remain very established markets where ultra-premium ranges like Swisse Nutra are expected to help premiumize its offerings.
Healthspan supplement launches enter stacked market, join longevity platforms
Supplement brands continue to translate cellular-health science into everyday healthspan products, with new launches featuring multi-ingredient stacks.
For instance, traditional sports nutrition aids like creatine, protein and HMB are being used as hero ingredients, reflecting growing recognition of muscle health as the fountain of youth for mobility, metabolic health, independence and long-term physical function.
Ingredients are also increasingly being paired with advanced delivery technologies, providing another area of differentiation through solubility, absorption and bioavailability claims.
Whey protein price hike: Are sales affected? Brands weigh impact and strategies
The global whey protein price hike is increasingly being felt across the sports nutrition industry, from manufacturers to consumers, prompting companies to raise prices, explore alternative protein sources and adjust their product strategies.
Commodity intelligence platform Vesper Tool reported that whey protein concentrate containing at least 80% protein by weight is now $32,000 per metric tonne, or $32 per kg, up nearly six times from $5,500 per tonne during the same period in 2023.
“When push comes to shove, it is also the responsibility of the brand to give quality alternatives to the consumers,” said Kaustuv Paliwal, senior vice president at MuscleBlaze, a leading Indian sports nutrition and bodybuilding supplement brand.
Could AI-driven consumer discovery reshape women’s health innovation?
AI and consumer search data could play an increasingly important role in identifying opportunities in women’s health, according to Somdutta Singh, founder and CEO of AI-powered cross-border commerce platform Assiduus.
Speaking to NI at the Nutrify Today C-Suite SumFlex 2026 in Mumbai, Singh said that the way women discover health products has fundamentally changed.
Consumer searches, for instance, have become more specific, extending beyond individual symptoms to questions around life stages, including early perimenopause and menopause.
