1 August, 2025 – Each year, Innova Market Insight’s Top 10 Trends lay the groundwork for upcoming food and beverage trends. The #7 trend for 2025, Taste the Glow, shines a spotlight on the expansion of beauty-related claims from supplements into food and beverage products. Beauty incorporates benefits for the skin, hair, and nails and the expansion of trends and product launches for beauty often are driven by younger consumers. Consumer trends research shows how beauty claims in food and beverage products are expanding.
Beauty Claims Offer an Attractive Opportunity
Consumer trends research conducted by Innova reveals that nearly half of those studied express interest in products – food, beverage, and supplements – that provide physical appearance benefits. Consumers are most concerned about their facial skin and also say that skin on the body and hair are nearly as important.
What is striking is that although consumers are interested in products for beauty, only a small percentage of those participating in consumer trends research report purchasing food, beverage, or supplement products with a beauty claim. This provides an opportunity for brands to communicate the value and efficacy of their beauty products.
Innova trends research on new product launches shows that beauty and skin claims have grown more common on food and beverage products over the past five years and especially over a recent 12-month period. The same is true for launches of supplements with a beauty-related claim. Matching consumer interest, brands are launching the greatest number of products with a skin claim or with a skin claim plus hair and nails claims.
Beauty Claims Cross Categories
Consumers participating in consumer trends research say that they use mainly regular food and beverage products for appearance benefits, but some also use supplements or food and beverage products that are nutrition-fortified. The most popular categories with skin health benefits are fruit, vegetables, fish, and nuts and seeds. Some consumers also turn to bottled waters, supplements, and juices.
Beauty drinks are an important category. Innova’s global trends monitoring shows that launches with beauty claims are highest in soft drinks, followed by hot drinks. In soft drinks, bottled water brands promote hydration and skin health. Juices often focus on fortification. Other areas with potential for beauty claims are dairy, sports nutrition, and nuts, which have nutrients for skin health.
Gummies and powders stand out as top supplement forms for skin health. Supplements are a popular category for beauty innovation for hair, skin, and nails, and for specialty benefits such as UV protection.
Specific Ingredients and Nutrients for Beauty
Consumer trend study conducted by Innova look into which ingredients consumers associate with beauty and appearance. Consumers are most familiar with antioxidant vitamins, which they say are most important, and they also look for collagen as a key ingredient.
Global trends in product launches with a beauty claim show that vitamin C is the most commonly featured ingredient in food and beverage launches with a beauty claim, followed by collagen. Collagen is even more prominent in supplements and may be leading the way for inclusion of collagen in functional food and beverage products. In supplements for skin health, vitamin C is present in nearly half of product launches.
Collagen has become so widely recognized that it is becoming a mainstream ingredient in fortified food and beverage products. It is increasingly used in soft drinks and its use is growing in other categories. Collagen is so widely recognized that it often is featured in front-of-pack claims or in the names of products.
In addition to vitamin C, biotin (vitamin B7) often is added to food, beverage, and supplement products for beauty, including those for hair and skin. The mineral zinc has an association with beauty and could be used more widely. Other ingredients that have potential in food and beverage products with a beauty claim are hyaluronic acid, specific probiotics, the prebiotic inulin, and other functional compounds.
Products Promoting Youth
Anti-aging is a key element in products with a skin health claim. Even so, products positioned for physical appearance benefits appeal more to younger age groups. Younger consumers view nutrition and fortified products as essential for meeting their health needs. Also, they are caring for their physical appearance at an earlier age. Some of this interest, especially in skin health, is fueled by social media. And purchases follow this consumer trend. A majority of Gen Z and Millennial consumers say in consumer trends research that they want to buy food, beverage, or supplement products for their personal appearance. In contrast, Boomers are less interested and less likely to purchase these products.
Younger consumers are more likely than older generations to embrace functional food and beverage products. Many Gen Z consumers in particular say they ensure targeted nutrition with nutrition-fortified foods and beverages. Numbers are much lower among Boomers. Gen Z consumers also are interested in a broad range of functional products, including functional soft drinks, tea and chocolate. Younger consumers are so important to brands that companies are marketing directly to this demographic with novelty and creative packaging.
This article is based on Innova’s Top 10 Trends 2025: #7 – Taste the Glow – Global report. This report is available to purchase or with an Innova Reports subscription. Reach out to find out more