September 18, 2025 – In today’s fast-paced world, consumers are increasingly looking for moments of calm, balance and restoration. Food and beverages are becoming important tools in supporting these needs. Wellness is expanding beyond nutrition to include emotional wellbeing, stress relief, and mood support. As a result, interest is growing in ingredients that help promote relaxation, manage stress and support overall mental and physical wellness.
Innova Market Insights’ Top 10 Trends help to explain consumer behaviors as well as the variety of functional and botanical ingredients in food, beverage, and supplement launches to help consumers relax.
Consumers Strive for Mental Wellbeing at All Ages
Consumers are proactive about their health, and this includes feelings of relaxation and wellbeing. Feeling mentally and emotionally well is the primary health goal for consumers globally. Everyday and global macroeconomic stresses contribute to anxiety and insomnia, which are key mental health concerns for consumers.
Ingredient trends show that mental and emotional wellness is a primary health goal for consumers. They are especially concerned about stress, anxiety and sleep. Consumers need guidance as they feel anxiety and pressure when managing their health and wellbeing, although the level of concern goes down somewhat as consumers get older.
Consumers Globally are Proactive About Their Health
Well over half of consumers globally, led by consumers in Brazil and Indonesia, say they are or tend to be proactive about their health. Products with clear messaging about relaxation benefits can appeal to consumers who want to improve their mental health. Consumers of all generations, led by Millennials, report focusing on health. In addition to being proactive, Millennials are most likely to agree that they try to prevent health conditions by sticking to targeted nutrition plans for themselves.
Consumers Turning to Functional F&B to Address Mental Health
When shopping for mental health, consumers purchase functional food and beverages mostly to help them with acute mental health issues, like stress and anxiety, tiredness and fatigue, sleep, and insomnia. However, the level of concern is higher than the level of purchase, creating an opportunity for manufacturers to promote products to interested consumers. Regular food and beverage products, natural ingredients and freshness are most important to consumers, especially as they age, reflecting evolving ingredient trends.
Quest for Health and Wellbeing Can Add to Mental Stress
Consumers express a desire to control their own healthcare — at least one-third of consumers globally — but the process of healthcare self-management may worsen their mental health by causing anxiety. Also, shortages of healthcare workers can create additional stress and anxiety for consumers. Brands can help boost health and wellbeing by offering effective product solutions that improve health and therefore reduce anxiety about the best ways to improve health.
Relaxation and Wellbeing Products
Food, beverage and supplement products for relaxation and wellbeing can be divided into four key benefit groups: happiness, rejuvenation, calm and relaxation, and sleep. Products in each benefit area may overlap with each other. Launches in all benefit groups are growing faster than food and beverage or supplement launches. Sleep launches show the strongest growth, especially in food and beverage products. Penetration is on the rise in all four benefit groups in food and beverage and supplements. Benefits for relaxation and wellbeing are promoted across many food, beverage and supplement categories, reflecting evolving ingredient trends. Tea and coffee are a focus of innovation for all the aforementioned relaxation and wellbeing benefits.
Ingredients for Relaxation and Wellbeing
Botanical and functional or nutraceutical ingredients are the key active ingredient categories. Many leading ingredients confer sensory features such as flavor, especially in products with a happiness claim, and do not impact relaxation and wellbeing directly. Several ingredients, like ashwagandha, reishi mushrooms, L-theanine, passionflower, green tea, chamomile, and others, support more than one type of relaxation and wellbeing benefit. The use of extracts in supplements allows better control over dosages of active ingredients.
Supplement Launches for Sleep Growing in Popularity
Supplements for recharging, calming and especially sleep are on the rise, demonstrating and supporting consumer need for energy, stress management and better sleep. The strong innovation in supplements for sleep is similar to that of food and beverage products for sleep and matches a major consumer concern about insomnia. A related concern, stress and anxiety, can also manifest in sleep disturbances. Functional ingredients have a solid presence in supplements for calm and relaxation. For example, Compania De Las Indias Tranquility Teabags, a recent launch in Spain, has valerian as an ingredient, which helps to relax.
Botanical Ingredients Feature a Lot in Happiness Supplement Launches
Botanical ingredients are the leading ingredient category in food and beverage products with a happiness claim, reflecting current ingredient trends. The growth of botanicals in food and beverage reflects the increased use of botanical ingredients in products positioned as having natural ingredients. These ingredients rarely, if ever, have direct happiness benefits.
Nutraceutical and functional ingredients appear in over one-third of 2024 food and beverage and 85% of supplement launches. Functional ingredients are more widely used in supplements. Most other top ingredient groups confer sensory product qualities rather than functionality supporting happiness. The high penetration in food and beverage of sugar, syrup and honey demonstrates the strong association between sweet products and happiness. An example of a recent product launch combining floral and sweet is Pukka’s Organic Chamomile, Vanilla and Manuka Honey Teabags.
Ingredients in Recharge and Replenish Launches
Nutraceutical and functional and botanical ingredients are prominent in food and beverage launches to support recharging and replenishing. They are utilized in about 3 in 5 launches. Nutraceutical and functional ingredients are even more widely used in supplements. Many products that recharge and replenish include a stimulant ingredient such as caffeine or other plant-based functional or botanical compounds. For example, Viwa Vitality Guarana Vitamin Water with Cranberry Flavor, launched in Honduras, uses guarana which can help reduce fatigue, boost energy, and aid learning and memory.
What’s Next in Global Relaxation and Wellbeing Ingredients?
Stressful times lead to increased consumer concern for mental. This raises interest in foods and ingredients that support mental wellbeing. Brands should focus on sleep and overall wellness when creating products and ingredients. Coffee and tea are still key carriers for relaxation and wellness ingredients, often using botanicals linked to mental health. Given the stress many consumers face, brands that provide practical, affordable, and effective solutions while showing empathy will stand out in a competitive market.
This article is based on Innova’s Relaxation & Wellbeing Ingredients – Global report. This report is available to purchase or with an Innova Reports subscription. Reach out to find out more