Probiotics for digestive health, protein powder for sports, weight management products - including probiotics, and dietary fibre are the top five bestsellers during the Chinese New Year season, according to JD Health - part of China’s e-commerce giant JD.com.
The bestselling chart is dominated by China brands such as Wonderlab (万益蓝), CPT (康比特), and Jiang Zhong (江中), with Optimum Nutrition / ON from the UK, and Nutrend (诺特兰德) - a brand from Czech Republic - squeezing into the top five list.
While the popular categories have stayed largely the same as compared to past years, there is a noticeable increase in consumers' demand for more specialised ingredients and a greater variety of dosage formats.
This is especially the case for weight management products, as well as probiotics.
“In terms of healthy foods, the fat loss and weight management categories are veering towards more ‘professional’ ingredients and more segmented dosage formats.”
Examples include L-carnitine coffee, said a spokeswoman from JD Health.
There has been a rise in weight management solutions as observed in the past year.
This is according to the report titled “Five Health Consumption Trends for 2024″ published in December last year by JD.com’s Consumption and Industry Development Research Institute and HealthInsight.
The report cited data retrieved from JD.com, which showed that searches related to “weight management” have increased by more than 3.8 times year-on-year.
This is also marked by a growing demand for diet products and home fitness equipment such as kettlebells and leg trainers.
The report also highlighted how the introduction of GLP-1 medications could open new doors for weight loss solutions in China.
“The introduction of semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist for long-term weight management, in China marks a promising development.
“The market for GLP-1 weight loss drugs in China is projected to exceed RMB 37.852 bn (US$5.2bn) by 2030,” said the report.
The report added that 34.3 per cent of Chinese adults are classified as overweight and 16.4 per cent as obese.
Probiotics for oral health and mood
At the same time, there is “very good” growth seen in the emerging categories of probiotics for oral health and mood.
These products are designed to address new consumer demand through the use of probiotics.
Notable players in the mood probiotics space include Taiwan-based psychobiotics firm Bened Biomedical.
The company is into both ingredients and finished product space where it sells its consumer products under the brand Neuralli and Pure Happiness.
According to JD.com’s 2024 trends report, searches for “mental health” have doubled, with significant interest in emotional release tools and books on topics related to psychology.
Closely related to mental health is also sleep quality.
JD.com said it had seen a 210 per cent increase in searches for sleep aids last year, with high demand for sleep headphones, eye masks, and nutritional supplements.
More emphasis on protein quality
As compared to pre-COVID, China consumers are paying more attention to the purity and content of protein supplements - which signals that consumers have becoming more discerning.
Prior to this, majority of them were caught up in the hype of taking protein powder for muscle building.
In addition, consumers are showing a stronger preference for whey protein, as well as sports nutrition for energy supply and sports recovery.
“In terms of the strong growing sports nutrition categories, products for energy supply and sports recovery have shown outstanding growth.
“These products have been used by consumers active in marathons, cycling, skiing etc. The trend also strongly mirrors the changes in consumers' lifestyle,” said the spokeswoman.
