Author: Mintel Group Ltd.
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Health Supplements - China - December 2020
Overview
 
What you need to know
A higher proportion of consumers self-consumed health supplements compared to 2019, especially in the categories of minerals, vitamins and probiotics. Consumers’ propensity to take health supplements for immune support and as a dietary complement bodes well for the on-going growth of the market where immunity management and healthy eating are highlighted in the wake of COVID-19.

However, the current marketplace lags behind in specific functional supplements that meet Chinese consumers’ sophisticated needs (eg digestive health, heart/cardiovascular health, energy boosting and sleep improvement in particular). Furthermore, product offerings that chime with both WellbeingExperienceTrend Drivers, such as product formats delivering both nice mouthfeel and high effectiveness (eg drinking formats, TCM ingredients), and a combination of topical and ingestible solutions that work in synergy to enhance beauty, are still less tapped into. To further drive consumers’ continued usage and product satisfaction and therefore increase their slice of the pie in the health supplement market, brands and manufacturers might need to seize such opportunities.

Key issues covered in this Report
●	Usage penetration of major health supplement categories as well as reasons for taking them
●	Consumers’ preferences on health supplement product formats
●	Consumers’ awareness of ingredients related to edible beauty supplements
●	Channels that consumers use to purchase health supplements
●	How brands, companies and manufacturers might react to market opportunities and threats after the COVID-19 outbreak.

Report scope
This Report covers health supplement products that are certified with either a National Medical License Number (国药准字号) or as a Health Supplement Food (保健食品) when collating the market size.

Among those with a National Medical License Number, only those products which are registered as OTC (over-the-counter) drugs are included in the market size, while those registered as prescription drugs are excluded.

The market segments include:

●	Vitamins – single vitamins and vitamin complexes (eg vitamins A, B, C, D, E, vitamin B complex).
●	Minerals – eg calcium, iron, zinc, selenium, magnesium.
●	Dietary supplements – including animal-based nutritional supplements (eg cod liver oil and ejiao), and plant-based nutritional supplements (eg garlic oil and spirulina tablets).

Excluded
Products that are known for their nutritional value but are not processed into extracts used in health supplements (eg bird’s nest in its original form) are excluded from market sizing but are included in consumer analyses.

Subgroup definition
Mintel divides consumers into three groups based on their MHI (Monthly Household Income).

FIGURE 1: Definition of low/mid/high MHI groups, by monthly household income and city tier
 
| Sample Size | Tier one cities | Tier two, three or lower cities
Low MHI | 1,054 | RMB6,000-9,999 | RMB5,000-8,999
Mid MHI | 1,096 | RMB10,000-17,999 | RMB9,000-15,999
High MHI | 1,150 | RMB18,000 or above | RMB16,000 or above

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