Longevity is becoming more than a conversation about living longer. Increasingly, consumers are looking at how they can support their health, energy and wellbeing over the longer term, creating opportunities for brands across nutrition, wellness, food and beverage.

For the food and beverage industry, the emerging longevity space raises an interesting question: how can products deliver relevant functionality while still offering an enjoyable everyday experience?

How can products deliver relevant functionality while still offering an enjoyable everyday experience?

From Lifespan to Healthspan

The conversation around ageing is changing.

Rather than focusing solely on the visible signs of ageing, consumers are increasingly interested in healthspan, the years of life spent in good health.

That can mean different things to different people. For some, it means maintaining energy and physical fitness. For others, it means supporting cognitive wellbeing, mobility, sleep, skin health or emotional wellbeing.

Innova Market Insights identifies Vitality & Longevity as one of its Top Global Consumer Trends for 2026, highlighting ageing populations and widespread access to health information as drivers of demand for long-term health and longevity solutions. Innova also reports that 57% of consumers are taking action to address concerns about their energy levels.

The interest extends across generations. Innova’s Healthy Aging Across Generations research found that 73% of global consumers consider healthy ageing extremely or very important. However, priorities differ between generations. Younger consumers place greater emphasis on appearance, energy and emotional wellbeing, while older consumers are more focused on mobility, physical fitness and maintaining an active mind.

Healthy ageing is therefore becoming less about a particular age group and more about a proactive approach to wellbeing.

What’s Driving the Category?

The longevity conversation brings together a broad range of health and wellness priorities.

Energy & vitality: Consumers are looking for ways to support sustained energy and everyday performance.

Cognitive wellbeing: Focus, memory and maintaining an active mind are increasingly part of the healthy-ageing conversation.

Muscle & mobility: Staying active and maintaining physical capability are important priorities as consumers think about ageing well.

Sleep & recovery: Sleep and recovery are increasingly viewed as important parts of maintaining overall wellbeing.

Skin & appearance: For younger consumers in particular, appearance can form part of the broader healthy-ageing proposition.

This creates a category that is much broader than traditional anti-ageing.

The Ingredients Behind the Longevity Conversation

One of the most visible areas of innovation is cellular health, with NAD+ and its precursors attracting increasing attention.

NAD+, alongside precursors such as NMN and NR, is increasingly appearing in products positioned around cellular health, energy and longevity. Euromonitor data reported by NutraIngredients shows that just under 6% of supplements launched since July 2024 carried some form of NAD+ messaging globally, making it one of the fastest-growing ingredient areas in the sector.

Other ingredients appearing across the wider longevity and healthy-ageing space include:

• Urolithin A
• Spermidine
• Resveratrol
• CoQ10
• Creatine
• Magnesium
• Collagen
• Vitamins and minerals
• Botanical extracts

Collagen is also highlighted by Innova as a key ingredient in healthy ageing, particularly around mobility, bone, joint and muscle health.

This reflects an important development in the category: products are increasingly being built around multiple benefits rather than a single health proposition.

Rather than asking consumers to purchase separate products for every aspect of wellbeing, brands are developing formulations designed to fit several benefits into a single daily routine.

Bringing Longevity Into Everyday Life

Supplements remain an important part of the longevity category, but the opportunity is expanding into more accessible formats.

Current innovation can be seen across:

• Powders and sachets
• Gummies and soft chews
• Capsules and tablets
• Shots and concentrates
• Ready-to-drink beverages
• Smoothie pouches
• Direct-to-mouth powders

Recent launches demonstrate just how far formats are beginning to move beyond traditional capsules. At Vitafoods Europe 2026, concepts included NAD+ direct-to-mouth snowmelts, plant-based jelly chews, cacao supplement sticks and a lemon meringue-flavoured longevity smoothie pouch containing NAD+, creatine, glutathione and lactoferrin.

This is particularly interesting when considered alongside Innova’s research. While older consumers are more likely to use supplements to support healthy ageing, younger consumers are more likely to turn to functional foods and drinks. Innova also highlights the appeal of natural, wholesome and familiar foods.

There is already evidence that healthy ageing is beginning to move into food and beverage innovation, with Innova reporting a 9% rise in food and beverage launches carrying healthy-ageing claims over the past five years.

This raises an interesting opportunity for product developers:

Could longevity move from the supplement shelf into everyday food and beverage?

Rather than asking consumers to add another capsule to their routine, brands could incorporate relevant functionality into products they already understand and enjoy.

A Category Attracting Commercial Attention

One of the clearest examples of the momentum around premium consumer health is IM8, the health and longevity brand co-founded with David Beckham.

According to parent company Prenetics, IM8 generated $60.1 million in revenue during FY2025 and reached approximately $120 million in annualised recurring revenue by December 2025, just 12 months after launch. It also recorded more than 230,000 customer orders in Q4 2025.

Prenetics has positioned IM8 as its core growth engine, with the brand now sold across more than 30 countries. Its product portfolio is also expanding beyond its flagship daily powder into areas including hydration and gummies.

This demonstrates how longevity is increasingly overlapping with wider areas of functional nutrition, performance and everyday wellness.

What Does Longevity Taste Like?

For a flavour company, this is where the category becomes particularly interesting.

Looking across current products, there is a strong presence of fresh, fruity and approachable profiles.

Fruit flavours such as blackberry, strawberry and watermelon, alongside citrus profiles such as lemon, are appearing across gummies, powders and other functional formats.

But the category isn’t limited to light and fruity flavours.

Recent innovation includes a lemon meringue-flavoured longevity smoothie pouch, while a cacao supplement stick demonstrates how more indulgent flavour profiles can be combined with a functional proposition.

This suggests that there may not yet be one established “longevity flavour profile”.

Instead, the category is beginning to explore both:

Fresh & fruity

• Blackberry
• Strawberry
• Watermelon
• Lemon
• Citrus

More indulgent & premium

• Lemon meringue
• Cacao
• Chocolate-style profiles

That leaves room for brands to explore more distinctive flavour combinations as the category develops.

Potential directions could include:

Yuzu + Ginger
Fresh, bright and contemporary.

Blackcurrant + Elderflower
Premium fruit with a botanical layer.

Blood Orange + Turmeric
Citrus-led with a distinctive botanical cue.

Passion Fruit + Lime
Vibrant, tropical and refreshing.

The opportunity isn’t simply to make functional products taste better. It is to create flavour experiences that make consumers want to return to the product as part of their daily routine.

The Opportunity for Functional Beverages

Functional beverages could be particularly well positioned to benefit from this shift.

Innova’s research highlights functional foods and drinks as an important opportunity within healthy ageing, particularly among younger consumers. It also identifies opportunities to develop products around the different priorities of different generations.

This could open the door to products ranging from:

• Functional waters
• Wellness drinks
• Powdered drink mixes
• Ready-to-drink beverages
• Smoothies
• Teas
• Concentrated shots

Beverages can combine functionality, convenience and sensory experience in a format consumers already understand.

For product developers, the challenge will be translating complex ingredient stories into products that feel simple, relevant and enjoyable.

What Does This Mean for Flavour Innovation?

As longevity develops, brands will need to do more than communicate complex ingredient stories.

They will need to create products that consumers understand, trust and, importantly, enjoy.

For flavour innovation, that creates an opportunity to make science-led formulations feel more approachable and desirable.

Fresh citrus, premium fruit, botanical combinations and more sophisticated flavour pairings could help differentiate products in an increasingly competitive market.

The category’s emerging flavour landscape also suggests that there is room to move beyond the expected “healthy” flavour profile. From bright fruit and citrus to indulgent cacao and dessert-inspired notes, brands have an opportunity to build distinctive sensory identities around functional products.

The opportunity may not simply be to flavour longevity.

It could be to create flavour experiences that help make healthy living an enjoyable everyday habit.

Flavouring the Future of Healthy Ageing

Longevity is evolving from a niche conversation around anti-ageing into a broader movement around vitality, healthspan and living well for longer.

Consumer interest is significant, product innovation is expanding and brands are investing in the space. At the same time, healthy ageing is beginning to appear more clearly within food and beverage innovation.

For product developers, this creates an exciting space to explore.

From daily wellness powders and gummies to functional beverages and shots, flavour can play an important role in turning complex functionality into products consumers genuinely want to make part of their routine.

As the category continues to evolve, could flavour help make the next generation of longevity products something consumers look forward to every day?

At Synergy, we’re exploring how flavour can help bring the next generation of functional nutrition to life.

Looking to explore what’s possible? Get in touch with the Synergy team.

Reference List

Innova Market Insights (2026). Global Consumer Trends 2026 for Food and Beverage Industry – Vitality & Longevity.

Innova Market Insights (2026). Healthy Aging Trends Across Generations: Global Consumer Insights. January 2026.

Innova Market Insights (2026). Global Consumer Health Trends – Healthy Aging Insights.

Prenetics Global Limited (2026). Prenetics Reports Record Q4 and FY 2025 Results: IM8 Achieves $120M ARR in 12 Months. February 2026 Prenetics Reports Record Q4 and FY 2025 Results: IM8 Achieves $120M ARR¹ in 12 Months, Revenue Surges 480% YoY – Prenetics Global Limited

NutraIngredients (2026). Minding the gap: Market forces shaping the shift from longevity to healthspan. February 2026 Minding the gap: Market forces shaping the shift from longevity to healthspan

NutraIngredients (2026). Formats to chew over: From fizzy bits to chocolate sticks, snowmelts to smoothies. May 2026. Formats to chew over: From fizzy bits to chocolate sticks, snowmelts to smoothies

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