Where health is heading: insights from Expo West
17 March 2026Walking the halls of Expo West 2026, IGD’s Laura Jacobson reflects on health innovation and how it translate to commercial action.
With over 3,300 exhibitors, Expo West is the world’s largest natural and organic product show. It offers early read on the future of health and wellness innovation, both where consumer priorities and product development are heading. This year highlighted both the staying power of established themes and the rise of new focal ingredients, reflected in these ten trends.
1. Protein still dominates
Protein remains the macro‑nutrient of choice, cutting across categories and occasions. From snacks to beverages, the focus is on accessible, daily protein rather than specialist formats, with a clear sense that the market hasn’t yet peaked.
On trend brands include: Sturdy pasta sauces, with each jar containing 80g of protein (20g per serving).
2. Functional hydration is a fast-crowding space
Across functional sodas, teas and kombuchas, brands are positioning drinks as tools for energy, focus and recovery. Natural stimulants such as matcha, yerba mate and mushrooms are favoured over synthetic caffeine, while adaptogens are used to signal calmer, more sustained energy. Sweetening strategies also reflect this shift, with natural sweeteners helping brands balance functionality with taste and accessibility.
On trend brands include: PolkaDot functional drinks are a range of adaptogenic mushroom seltzers and shots designed to support wellness. Targeted functions include Spark, Connect, Revive and Dream.
3. Gut health broadens through pre, pro and post-biotics
Innovation is shifting towards more complete systems that support digestion, immunity and everyday wellbeing. Brands are focusing on clearer education and routine relevance, normalising gut support as part of the daily shop with familiar foods and drinks.
On trend brands include: Cheerpop sodas made from 30-35% real fruit juices and a 3 in 1 blend of prebiotics, probiotics and postbiotics.
1. Better‑for‑you snacking for permissible treats
Snacking innovation is shifting from calorie reduction to ingredient quality. Cleaner labels, alternatives to seed oils (including tallow and avocado oil) and natural sweeteners (including sugar cane and dates) are reframing indulgence as something to be enjoyed mindfully, not avoided.
On trend brands include: Joolies Date Sours - organic Medjool dates in snack packs in blue raspberry, peach, watermelon, and cherry cola flavours.
2. Everyday favourites, upgraded
Much of the most scalable innovation sits in familiar formats with cleaner labels. Rather than changing behaviour, brands are improving the products consumers already buy, embedding better‑for‑you choices into the regular shop.
On trend brands include: Jesse & Ben’s clean label avocado oil and beef tallow frozen fries.
3. Category convergence gathers pace
Boundaries between food, drink and supplements continue to blur. Versatile natural ingredients including mushrooms, ashwagandha and ginger cross all three. Snacks and sodas are adopting supplement cues, while functionality shows up across the store. “Food as medicine” is challenging traditional category logic.
On trend brands include: Brainwater Beauty taps into the trends of hydration, beauty-from-within driven skincare and cognitive function, all in one can.
4. Supplement stacking and format innovation
Supplement brands are increasingly offering multi‑benefit propositions, reflecting consumers’ desire to address several needs at once. Healthy aging, gut health, cognition, menopause, mood and weight management were prominent missions. Key ingredients included colostrum, collagen and creatine. Gummies, chewables and food‑like formats are broadening appeal and lowering the barrier to entry.
On trend brands include: Grüns, the viral green gummy bear that claims to support digestion, energy metabolism and normal cognitive function, maintain healthy hair, skin and nails.
5. Quality and provenance gain renewed relevance
Regenerative, organic and sustainably farmed products were prominent in dairy, meat and fish. Health is increasingly framed through the lens of quality and origin, not just nutritional metrics.
On-trend brands include: Ice Cream For Bears – sweetened with raw honey, made with grass-fed dairy.
6. Health choices extend to the whole family
Adult health priorities are increasingly shape choices for children and pets. Parents are applying the same standards around ingredients and functionality across the whole household.
In action: Actual Veggies – the plant-based veggie burger brand has launched a new line of Dinosaur Nuggets with flavours including broccoli and potato and sweet potato and carrot
7. GLP-1 without the label
I was surprised to see so few brands directly calling out the c.18% of the market’s GLP-1 users with specific formulations and on-pack communication. But products serving their needs were everywhere: nutrient-dense, mindful consumption, snacking, hydration, gut health and muscle gain.
Implications for grocery
The next phase of health will reward those who think in needs, not categories, requiring a deeper and more dynamic understanding of consumers than ever before. Amid an explosion of innovation appealing to consumers’ increased awareness and interest in health, standing out on the shelf is only getting tougher. Building on consumer understanding, retailers and brands who communicate with clarity, credibility, consistency and authenticity will increasingly gain commercial advantages.
Out of the noise, enduring trends are establishing. To win in this phase, proving relevance at scale and in everyday life are key to increasing penetration and repeat purchase.