The most commonly used dietary supplement, multivitamin/mineral formulations are often viewed as a simple and affordable insurance policy, especially considering exorbitant healthcare costs in the U.S.

Approximately 70% of dietary supplement users reported taking a multivitamin over a 12-month span, according to the Council for Responsible Nutrition’s (CRN) 2022 consumer survey.

Globally, vitamin supplements (multis, B-vitamins, and vitamins A, C, D, E, K) represent a $48.51 billion market, while mineral supplements were valued at $15.08 billion, according to Grand View Research reports.

The Essentials

Known vitamins include vitamins A, C, D, E, and K and the B vitamins: thiamin (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), pantothenic acid (B5), pyridoxine (B6), cobalamin (B12), biotin, and folate/folic acid.

Minerals classified as essential include calcium, chloride, cobalt, copper, fluoride, iodine, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, sodium, sulfur, and zinc.

With sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy diets that feature processed foods, consumers and their healthcare providers may be concerned about nutrient shortages.

Iron deficiency is the most prevalent nutritional deficiency, with young children and premenopausal women at highest risk. Anemia affects an estimated 33% of the global population, and about half the cases are reportedly due to iron deficiency.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) has noted that very few foods naturally contain vitamin D, which has been tied to bone and muscle health, immune system support, and more.

Fortified foods provide most of the vitamin D in U.S. diets. In fact, nearly all of the U.S. milk supply is fortified with about 3 mcg (120 IU) of vitamin D per cup.

Mineral deficiencies can lead to different types of health issues such as fatigue, weak bones, and immune system disruption. Magnesium, for example, is essential for healthy muscles, nerves, bones, and blood sugar levels.

Of course, COVID-19 led to a surge in immune health supplement purchasing, with vitamin C, D, and zinc in particular featured in many product formulations that flew off shelves and out of warehouses.

Vitamin K 2 has become more of a staple in the supplement market following research confirming bone and heart health benefits.

Signaling an expansion of vitamin K into the immune health market, Gnosis by Lesaffre stepped into the private label arena for the first time last year with MenaQ7 Protect, a stick pack that can be taken directly or added to a beverage for daily and long-term immune support.

Created with Probiotical, MenaQ7 Protect offers a ready-to-market solution that contains 75 mcg of MenaQ7 Vitamin K2 as MK-7, 80 mg of vitamin C, and 1 billion cells each of three strains selected for their immune-supporting benefits: Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BS01 (LMG-P-21384), Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus LR04 (DSM 16605), and Bifidobacterium bifidum BB10 (DSM 33678).

Meanwhile, hydration has been a top-selling health platform, boosting sales of common electrolytes like calcium, chloride, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and sodium.

Form and Delivery

Each supplement form has advantages and drawbacks. Offering affordability and convenience, tablets are compressible, ideal for products with large amounts of active ingredients per serving.

Capsules meanwhile allow for unique ingredient mixtures and may protect sensitive ingredients like probiotics or mask taste and odor.

According to numerous surveys and studies though, 30-40% of people have difficulty swallowing pills and tablets, challenging formulators to deliver “complete” multivitamin/mineral supplements in more convenient product formats.

Pivoting from large tablets or multiple capsules per serving, no format has gained star status quite like gummies. Critics point to high sugar content and lower concentration of active ingredients but the convenience and indulgence of these supplements has attracted a diverse following.

There may be a ceiling in sight for gummy sales growth, but innovation that can reduce or eliminate sugar and add more active ingredients offer added appeal in a crowded market. Allulose, stevia, and monk fruit are among a lineup of sweetener options that can help reduce sugar content.

Trace Minerals, a top-selling mineral and performance nutrition brand, partnered with Innovative Live Sciences, LLC (ILS) in June 2023 to open a 70,000-square-foot gummy manufacturing facility in Texas. 

The partnership is part of a strategic business venture to allow Trace Minerals to manufacture its own gummy products in-house and to provide custom manufacturing to brands that want to produce their specific formulations.

Getting More Personal

Custom multivitamin/mineral formulas are typically based on age, sex, lifestyle, primary health concern or goal, offering consumers products that specifically align with their health needs.

Personalized assessments in the form of online questionnaires allow companies like HUM Nutrition, Care/of, Nurish by Nature Made, and others to deliver more customized supplement packs and regimens through subscription services.

Beyond online questionnaires, blood draws and other diagnostic tests from companies like InsideTracker and Baze offer a truly personal assessment along with corresponding dietary supplement recommendations.

Perceptions and Research

The vast majority of people who use dietary supplements (92%) said these products are essential to maintaining their health (49% somewhat and 42% strongly agreed), according to CRN’s 2023 consumer survey.

General health/wellness remains the most commonly cited reason (45%) for supplement use. Use for immune health dropped from 40% in 2022 to 31% in 2023, though this is still higher than the 27% back in 2019.

Additionally, 89% of overall users agreed that using nutritional or dietary supplements empowers them to take charge of their health and wellness (62% somewhat and 27% strongly).

In terms of recent multivitamin research, one of the largest recent clinical trials, COSMOS, included 21,442 participants—12,666 women aged 65 or older and 8,776 men aged 60 or older—who were followed for an average of 3.6 years through the end of 2020.

While researchers found that a daily multivitamin did not reduce the risk of total cancer or cardiovascular disease among generally healthy older men and women, results from the ancillary COSMOS-Mind and COSMOS-Web trials concluded that daily multivitamin supplementation, compared with placebo, improves cognition and memory in older adults.

Researchers concluded that multivitamin supplementation holds promise as a safe and accessible approach to maintaining cognitive health in older age.