We all want to live long, but more important we want to live well. And consumers today—of all ages—have their own expectations for what constitutes a healthy lifestyle.
 
While the health and wellness category and its cousin LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) remain attractive opportunities in the business world due to the billions of consumers these markets could potentially serve, they are equally challenging for the same reason—their broad appeal.
 
As guest author Julian Mellentin of New Nutrition Business explains in this month’s article “Is Vitality the New Energy?” which starts on page 50, vitality, much like health and wellness (and LOHAS), seems to be something everyone wants but doesn’t necessarily know how to get. And translating those wants into products is another story. Are vitality products supposed to cater to those left out of the energy drinks movement? Is it just Baby Boomers who are looking for vitality products? The answers to these questions are a bit more complicated than you would expect.
 
“Because vitality is a relatively amorphous concept, no one is sure exactly what it means,” Mr. Mellentin said. “That’s why vitality positioning represents both an attractive and yet open opportunity for marketers scratching for growth in a better-for-you arena where few untested propositions remain.”
 
Since there is no consensus regarding a definition for vitality, the term takes on a life of its own depending on who’s defining it—and thus making the products. In this vein, as Mr. Mellentin points out, the vagueness of the term is its biggest strength yet biggest weakness.
 
In the end, using an ambiguous term like vitality may lure people in but it may eventually create distrust. According to a recent survey conducted by Siegel & Gale, U.S. consumers are willing to pay a 4-6% premium for brands they believe offer a greater degree of simplicity compared to their competitors. That could translate into billions more dollars in categories—like health—where confusion reigns supreme!
 
If the struggles facing the vitality market sound familiar, that’s probably because you’ve read similar articles about the antioxidant market in these pages for more than a decade. While antioxidants are in huge demand across a broad range of demographics—just like vitality—they are increasingly being linked to more specific health issues (e.g., joint health, cardiovascular health) as a means of survival, beyond their function as an antioxidant. (See this issue’s two articles on antioxidants, which start on pages 36 and 46, respectively, to learn more about the other developments in this market.)
 
Eventually the focus will narrow for vitality too, as consumers look for more benefit-oriented products—and trade in their great expectations for more realistic ones.
 
Editor’s Note: I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Ellen Schutt, former editor of Nutraceuticals World, and Scott Steinford of ZMC USA to our editorial advisory board. Both are good friends of the magazine who want to help keep us moving in the right direction. We look forward to working with them!