The European food supplement market is traditionally shaped by consumer demand for prevention and self-medication using food ingredients as an alternative to chemical medicinal products. Recently, a preference for natural, clean, and preferably vegan ingredients sourced sustainably has also come to play a significant role in shaping the marketplace.

The European alternative medicines and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) market is expected to grow at an annual rate of almost 21% from 2021 to 2028, reaching €125.6 billion, according to data from CBI. This reflects consumer awareness of the health benefits of certain ingredients, particularly botanical extracts and pre-/pro-/ and postbiotics.

Opportunities and Roadblocks

Vitamins and minerals are still dominating the supplement markets, though. The largest non-vitamin category is omega-3s/fish oils. This may be due to the uncertainty regarding possible health claims for botanicals that is stifling innovation as well as marketing leeway.

Since new botanical health claims will not be evaluated by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) until the deadlock around them has been resolved, manufacturers are prevented from making health claims on new botanicals. So consumers cannot be educated about their benefits on the package label. Explaining health benefits away from the label, however — e.g., on websites or other electronic or paper means — is legally gray, or even prohibited. This means that innovation in botanical ingredients that can have an effect on the EU food supplement market is stifled.

The vegan trend that has been growing in the food sector is also influencing the supplements markets. There is rising demand for plant-based supplements, driven by sustainability, ethical considerations, and overall health concerns.

Approximately 61% of supplement consumers indicate that natural origin is important to them, and around 46% do not want their supplements to contain animal products. This trend highlights an opportunity for plant-based products in the European market, with considerable growth in demand for plant-based ingredients in food supplements, such as immune-boosting botanicals and plant-based probiotics.

In fact, the European vegan supplements market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.40% from 2025 to 2030, indicating a strong positive trend, according to data from Mordor Intelligence. The market is characterized by low market concentration, suggesting a diverse and competitive landscape.

Vegan, Natural, and Clean Label

At the same time, the vegan trend supports sales of vitamin/mineral supplements, since this lifestyle is prone to deficits that need to be supplemented. Unless they are very knowledgeable and disciplined in their food choices, vegans also require additional intake of amino acids that naturally occur in meat products, giving a boost to sales of protein products.

Protein products, formerly niche products sold in fitness gyms, have moved mainstream, not only catering to vegans but also to the elderly who hope to counteract age-related cachexia or muscle wasting.

The market is also witnessing a strong inclination towards natural and clean-label products, particularly in the vegan and plant-based segments. This trend is supported by consumer awareness regarding supplement benefits, with approximately one-third of the German population consuming vitamins through food supplements at least weekly as of 2022.

Moreover, the clean label concept has evolved beyond simply avoiding E-numbers and artificial additives. Consumers are now more concerned about the actual ingredients in their food and how the products are produced, emphasizing health, transparency, and lifestyle appeal.

In the absence of the aforementioned innovation in botanicals, popular botanical ingredients in the marketplace are old acquaintances such as Ginkgo biloba, garlic, St. John’s wort, ginseng, aloe vera, and evening primrose oil.

Ingredients from alternative medicine traditions outside of Europe, such as Ayurveda, are also growing; one example is Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera). However, the aforementioned health claim-related challenges are impeding development of truly new botanicals.

The European market is still not harmonized as far as marketability of ingredients and maximum amounts of vitamins/minerals is concerned. This hampers an EU-wide launch of new products, as the variety of national legislation must be considered. Consultancies such as analyze & realize GmbH can help with navigating this fragmented terrain.