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More UAE residents buy weight loss products, sleep supplements: Experts
Improving gut health has also become a priority for wellness consumers, an expert said
- PUBLISHED: Tue 28 Jan 2025, 8:27 PM
An increasing number of UAE residents are becoming more health-conscious and spending more on wellness products, some industry experts observed.
Speaking to Khaleej Times on Tuesday on the sidelines of Arab Health, Marko Dakovic, president of Health & Beauty at GMG, said that they have noted double-digital growth in year-on-year sales for products in the wellness category.
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"We see even higher growth in some trendy ingredients or consumer needs, like sleep enhancement and obesity management. Those are the categories that have emerged in the last two years. In terms of obesity management, when innovative products are launched globally, the UAE is one of the first markets to receive products," he explained.
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N.S. Balasubramanian, CEO of Aster Retail supported his observations, saying: “In addition to weight loss, immunity and energy are some of the popular specific categories."
“After Covid, there has been a spike in demand for products that boost immunity like vitamin C, zinc, and elderberry. Elderberry got very lot popular after the pandemic and now people are conscious about it," he added.
Another expert noted that more people in the UAE are spending a "significant" amount on wellness, as they believe that this will pay off in the long run. "The amount of money that they spend as a preventive measure is much smaller than what they will spend on treating illnesses,” explained Dr Julie Chen, a naturopathic doctor who has launched three wellness brands - Eimele, Theronomic and Science Wellness Research - at Arab Health this year.
“The importance of maintaining your daily health and fixing you gut health is extremely important and people are spending more and more to ensure a good quality of health," she added.
Taking charge of their health
Precision medicine company Bioniq has seen its UAE customer base grew by over 500 per cent in the past year. “Today's consumers no longer want to be treated through traditional medicine offers,” said Vadim Fedotov, CEO and founder of the company. “Instead, they are actively self-educating and seeking comprehensive solutions that help them feel better every day. This explains the surge in demand for personalised supplementation."
Customers are mainly focusing on four things - an appropriate multivitamin, a probiotic, an omega-3 supplement and green superfoods. “When we say greens, it's a mixture of alfalfa, wheatgrass, barley. These are called green superfoods,” explained Balasubramanian.
“If you're taking these four every day, even if you are lacking adequate and timely nutrition, you're more than compensated. Many members of my team are taking these four and have observed how it has positively impacted them.”
Meanwhile, Marko added that people are now preferring clean sports nutrition. “They are looking for certain personalised solutions like whey proteins that are easier to digest or that are having better flavors,” he said. “People are very knowledgable, so when they shop for product, they will ask for specific whey protein isolate."
"With social media, people are very informed and updated on the latest trends in health and fitness. They often don't ask for suggestions since they know very clearly what they want," he noted.
Gut health as a priority
Dr Julie pointed out that improving gut health has become a priority for wellness consumers. “You will see that there are significant metabolic disorders due to bad gut health,” she said. “So there are a lot of people opting for probiotics, prebiotics, tribiotics, and post biotics for a robust and strong gut lining.”
Balasubramanian said that gut is called “the second brain of the human body” and a healthy gut meant the body worked properly. He added that anti-aging products are also becoming trendy. “Due to the advancements in science and technology and medicine, people are living longer. We see a lot of already products in this direction coming into the market. Peptides are also gaining a lot of popularity.”
Marko said that collagen has also been increasing in popularity. “People are getting very familiar with benefits of collagen,” he said. “There are different types and administrative form of collagen like powders and liquids. So we see this becoming almost like a grocery product. People buy it on a regular basis. It's part of their kitchen, part of their fridge.”
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