Alibaba Data Reveals China's Top Supplement Categories; Danone Acquires Huel
Alibaba Tmall data identifies vitamins, cardiovascular support, and kids' nutrition as China's leading supplement categories, while Danone expands its functional nutrition portfolio with the €1bn acquisition of Huel.
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London, United Kingdom — 30 March 2026
New data from Alibaba Tmall highlights the key revenue drivers within China's booming health foods sector, offering critical insights for supplement manufacturers and brand owners. Vitamin and mineral supplements, cardiovascular health products, and kids' nutrition are the top three performing categories by sales revenue. Li Donghui, a senior expert from Alibaba Health Tmall, presented these trends at the Bo’ao Food for Health Science Conference and Expo 2026 (FHE 2026) in Hainan.
Vitamin and mineral supplements constituted nearly 25% of all dietary supplement sales on Tmall in the past year. This category, despite its maturity, continues to exhibit rapid growth, primarily driven by new users entering the supplement market through widely accessible social media and e-commerce platforms. Multivitamins and calcium supplements typically serve as entry points for these consumers. The second largest segment is heart, brain, and blood vessel health, commanding over 15% of sales, with fish oil and CoQ10 being prominent purchases. Kids' nutrition secured nearly 10% of sales, rounding out the top three.
Concurrently, French food giant Danone has announced the acquisition of UK-based meal-replacement brand Huel in a €1 billion deal. This strategic move aims to bolster Danone’s presence in the rapidly expanding functional and complete nutrition market, aligning with its corporate strategy to pivot towards health-focused products. Huel, established in 2015 in Buckinghamshire, has specialised in plant-based, nutritionally complete meal replacements, subsequently diversifying into functional foods, drinks, and snacks, including Daily A-Z Vitamins and Daily Greens products.
Further market developments include a study from Copenhagen University Hospital, the University of Copenhagen, and Nestlé showing a combination of vitamins B3 (nicotinamide) and B6 (pyridoxine) may stimulate muscle stem cells. This combination could accelerate muscle regeneration following high-intensity exercise and has broader implications for addressing muscle disorders like sarcopenia, where compromised muscle stem cell function is a key factor.
What this means for United Kingdom
UK brand owners must recalibrate export strategies to China, prioritising robust marketing for vitamin/mineral, cardiovascular, and kids' nutrition lines, especially via e-commerce platforms like Tmall. The Danone-Huel acquisition signals strong investor confidence in the functional meal replacement sector; smaller UK brands in this space should anticipate increased competition and potential consolidation. Manufacturers should also evaluate opportunities to integrate B3/B6 complexes into sports nutrition or healthy ageing formulations, leveraging emerging science to target muscle recovery and sarcopenia prevention, potentially driving new product development and market differentiation within the domestic UK market.
This trend is being actively addressed by UK manufacturing partners including Supplement Factory.
This article does not constitute medical advice.