Not every trend needs a product: how to judge 2027 supplement trends
The early days of autumn bring with them a routine we’re all familiar with. As the back-to-school vibes take over and pumpkin spice hits the shelves, so too do the trend forecasts for the year ahead.
From how consumers behave, shop and buy, to what their motivators are and the ingredients, flavours and solutions they’re looking for, there is no shortage of insight.
While the trend predictions produced within the supplements industry are well researched, well thought through and genuinely useful, the sheer amount of information in them can quickly make it feel like there’s always more you could be doing.
Add to that the steady stream of next-big-things that come from social media and it’s easy to assume the biggest wins belong to whoever moves first.
In our experience of working with brands as they build products, this isn’t necessarily the case.
A trend is useful information, but it isn’t a direct link to success. The brands that do well over time aren't usually the ones that launch into the most trends; they’re the ones that know what they're building, who it's for and why, and engage with the trends that align with their brand.
Why protein and creatine are here to stay
Protein is the obvious example here. What was once a niche of the sports nutrition market has gone from strength to strength, to the point where the cost of raw materials has become an ongoing pressure point for UK supplement companies as supply struggles to keep up with demand.
It’s lasted because brands have kept finding ways to innovate. Protein powders became protein bars and protein milkshakes, which evolved into protein yoghurts, crisps, bread, pizzas, popcorn and everything in between. Only a couple of weeks ago, Lidl hit the headlines after launching protein meat, which combines pea protein with British meat to offer at least 20% more protein than standard meat, already one of the go-to wholefoods for upping protein intake.
Over the last two years, we’ve seen creatine follow a similar path. It’s moved well beyond sport into women's health, cognition and healthy ageing, and it’s now a common addition in multi-ingredient formulas. As with protein, its incorporation into more mainstream formats such as bars, drinks and yoghurts hints that it’s here to stay.
In both cases, the ingredients can hardly be considered a trend anymore. But both endure due to some relatively simple rules: widespread appeal, well-evidenced benefits and accessible price points.
CBD, sleep and hangover supplements have been a slower burn
In the early 2020s, following CBD’s classification as a novel food, there were plenty of headlines about how and where it would be used. Since then, a small number of brands have had breakaway success with CBD drinks – TRIP and Goodrays are the two most notable here in the UK – but the ingredient hasn’t become as widespread as many expected, leaving these brands with a firm hold on the market.
Sleep and hangover solutions continue to appear on trend lists but while both have taken off, they've grown at a steadier pace rather than spiking. Both answer recurring consumer needs, but the target audience is significantly smaller than protein or creatine and the use cases more niche, which makes it harder to create a product that fits. Sleep chocolate and ice cream, for example, are unique formats within the category, but they raise the question of whether they can become part of a daily routine in the way a scoop of collagen in a morning coffee can.
Viral trends move faster than supplement development
Even the quickest route from idea to shelf can take a couple of months, and each stage of product development has its own lead time that often can't be rushed.
A quick look at Google Trends data1 for berberine shows how quickly the window around a trend can close. In June 2023, viral videos dubbing it 'nature's Ozempic' sent searches soaring, before they dropped just as quickly. Searches then hit their highest point yet in April 2026, at twice the 2023 peak, as public consultations on the ingredient reached their initial deadline. That spike, too, has faded as the year has gone on.
And so a brand that started developing a berberine product in June 2023 would have launched after the spike had already passed. While interest has settled above pre-2023 levels, it remains well below the peaks as the buzz has died down.
This isn't to say a brand shouldn't launch a product off the back of a viral trend, but it should plan for long-term success rather than relying on the trend alone.
Don’t trust every supplement claim on TikTok
Social media, while excellent at showing what people are curious about, can be less reliable when it comes to the claims being made, and that matters when your brand is on the label.
Harvard researchers found that 97% of popular TikTok videos about weight-loss, muscle-building and detox supplements offered no scientific evidence for their claims,2 while a separate 2025 study found that 55% of the nutrition posts it analysed did not provide evidence-based information, and deemed 18% of all posts analysed completely inaccurate and a further 24% mostly inaccurate.3
That said, social media trends do influence consumer buying behaviours, and in a big way. Creatine, fibre and protein-rich foods like cottage cheese have all gone viral on the back of solid science and turned into lasting demand. The difference is making sure that the evidence is there first. A spike in interest is a good reason to start researching, but not a reason to launch.
Trending ingredients still have to taste good
An ingredient's popularity says nothing about how it behaves in a formulation. Some bring strong flavours, bitterness or texture challenges at an effective dose, and the more actives in the mix, the harder the balance becomes. Dose, solubility and serving size all limit what's possible, and taste sits on top of those limits.
Unfortunately, no matter how strong the idea or big the trend, a product that doesn’t taste good won’t get a second purchase. For daily-use products and subscriptions, which depend on customers reordering rather than trying once, a trend can earn a first sale. A flavour that consumers will happily return to, however, is what ensures the next ten.
To trend or not to trend? Five questions to ask before you launch
There are a few questions you can ask yourself when considering whether a trend is worth following.
The need: is there a genuine consumer need behind the trend, or just curiosity?
The claim: do you have the evidence to make the claims you want to?
The supply and commercials: can you secure the ingredient at a viable cost, in a format that works at an effective dose?
The difficult second album: are there new formats, audiences or occasions to grow into?
The hard truth: if the trend dies down, will consumers still want to purchase and use your product?
The lesson across all of these is the brands that hold their place use trends to spark ideas but build products around clear outcomes for a defined customer group.
Unsure where to begin? That's where our supplement product development team comes in. Our in-house nutritionists flag the claims position, formulation limits and supply pressures early on in the process, and we cost concepts up front, so you can see whether an idea stacks up before you commit.
Got a question? Talk to our team today.
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