Uncover why this chewy confectionery has evolved into the global supplement favourite.
What comes to mind when you think of the word ‘Gummies’?
Gummy Bears. Sour Gummies. Gummy Worms. Gumdrops. Jujube.
The popularity of this confectionery has only grown with time as new brands are bringing out their versions of these sweet, juicy treats in the Indian market. The nostalgia of summer and classroom popularity swelled with our ability to hand them around the class as a delicacy proudly.
Somewhere along the way, this piece of chewy, sugary goodness became more of a staple than a rarity.
The most exciting shift, however, took place post the 2010s, when wellness-based companies discovered a fresh market for health supplements.
This post delves into how such a rare indulgence became a clever vehicle for health supplements.
We must go back to the basics to understand the genius behind this market shift.
A Brief History of Gummies
Drawing from the dancing circus bears in Europe during the 1920s, Hans Reigel created a new candy that combined sugar, gelatin, and fruit flavours in Germany in 1922. He soon began Haribo, an abbreviation of his full name Hans Reigel Bonn, to promote this candy, initially called ‘Tanzbären’ or dancing bears. These were rechristened Goldbears, a name found in the aisles of Indian speciality supermarkets even today. Gummy bears entered the US market in 1982 after nearly six decades in the European markets.
The global gummies market grew to $3.7 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach $ 6.7 billion by 2031. This simple confectionery has given rise to massive experimentation. This has extended to lesser in-demand flavours such as mac & cheese, shrimp, and even cigarette butt flavours. The experimentation has extended to shapes that it takes on, namely jelly-filled gummy brain candy and gummy eye candy. Apart from expanding the flavour profile of the once-humble gummy peddled from a cycle in Germany, it has also unexpectedly been identified and capitalised on as a very clever vehicle for health supplements.
Are Gummies Good for Health?
They are now thanks to future-forward pharmaceutical innovators who transformed this famous candy into a healthcare supplement.
Type Gummies into a search bar, and prompts like ‘Gummies multivitamin’, ‘Gummies for skin’, ‘Gummies for hair’, and ‘Gummies for sleep’ will appear. Gummies have become a popular supplement for vitamins, biotin, and melatonin. Thanks to their overwhelming popularity, pharmaceutical companies are exploring more possibilities.
Studies show that the global market for gummies is expected to grow at a CAGR of 19.1%. North America constituted the most significant chunk of new product launches in the gummy supplement market.
Regarding the most popular flavours within this product category, strawberry, raspberry, orange, berry, and lemon emerged as the top five, with strawberry ranked as the most preferred flavour. Pomegranate, watermelon, lemonade, green apple, and blueberry gained popularity between October 2022 and September 2023.
What’s Trending in Gummy Supplements
Globally, there has been a rapid demand for gummy supplements that cater to Joint health, Insomnia, digestive/liver health and heart health. Globally, the functional Gummies Market is set to reach USD 10 billion by 2033, with a 10.5% CAGR. Other supplements that seem to have gained consumers’ interest are gummies that promote stamina and energy, collagen production, bone health, weight management and biotin-rich supplements to enhance skin health. Although North America is leading the New Product Development charge in gummy supplements, Europe has shown the most growth in NPD geared towards women’s health (breastfeeding, menstrual comfort, menopause, and fertility), increasing between 13% and 26%.
Another emerging trend is that gummy supplement manufacturers strategically discover and utilise more plant-based ingredients to create their latest products. Although fruit flavours are dominating the market trajectory, newer ingredients such as herbs/spices (turmeric, cumin, ginger, black pepper), adaptogenic mushrooms, chlorophyll, green coffee, and apple cider vinegar are some unconventional plant-based ingredients that are gaining popularity for their various health benefits.
Gummies – Vehicle of Pharma Innovation
A cursory search on most e-commerce sites will demonstrate the growing demand for new products in the health supplement market and the specificity with which the demands take shape. More customers are looking for cleaner, natural, sustainable, and healthy options. This explains the sharp move towards plant-based, sugar-free options. Even when it comes to colours and flavours, the average consumer has become well-informed about the widening availability of natural food colours and flavour options and is unwilling to compromise. Manufacturers are aligning themselves to these demands to retain their customer base and, as a result, are developing radically innovative products to bring solutions to age-old issues.
The fact of the matter is that clean-label products are the future. Symega’s natural colours, flavours and sugar reducers have been developed with consumers’ and manufacturers’ requirements in mind. Where gummy supplements are concerned, naturally developed flavours are the key to keeping customers consistent in their consumption of supplements to reap the long-term benefits. Symega’s natural flavours, such as Mango, Strawberry, Raspberry, Orange, Mixed Fruit, Banana, Lemon and Pomegranate, are created to complement health supplements, making them enjoyable to consume. Our natural colour range captures the vibrancy of nature, giving customers a treat for their eyes before they consume the supplements. And the icing on Symega’s sugar-free cake is our sweetness reducer. This stevia-based product helps manufacturers reduce the sugar content in their products by 20%, making them less calorie-dense.
In conclusion, gummy supplements are here to stay, and the demand for healthy and delicious health supplements is proliferating. This once sweet and cavity-inducing candy has now become a successful supplement.
If you want to ride this gummy wave with us and create the latest health gummy solutions, contact us at marketing@symega.com.
