As part of Nutraceuticals World’s 2026 State of the Industry review, Graham Rigby, President & CEO, American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) shares insights on growth of the herbal supplements market, evolving consumer priorities, and the regulatory and policy developments shaping the future of responsible commerce and innovation across the nutraceuticals industry.

The last 12 months have been marked by major developments in the nutraceuticals industry across legal, regulatory, business, and market sectors, setting the stage for significant developments in the coming year.

The market is currently experiencing significant sustained growth, led by the herbals category, which saw the highest percentage growth of any category in e-commerce sales in 2024. This surge is fueled by evolving consumer priorities, notably the demand for holistic wellness solutions and the popularity of adaptogens for stress resilience, immune, and mood support. A major demographic driver is the earlier adoption of supplements by Millennials and Gen Z, who are integrating products into areas like sports nutrition, sleep, biohacking and beauty-from-within.

Crucially, ethical considerations are driving business practices: sustainability, traceability, and clean-label transparency are now key differentiators. This commitment is evidenced by expanded industry efforts in organic and regenerative agriculture for both cultivated and wildcrafted botanical materials.

Business operations continue to be heavily influenced by trade tariffs, which pose a significant sourcing challenge, especially for botanicals that cannot be domestically produced to meet demand (a.k.a. “unavailable natural resources”). Industry advocacy, however, yielded a tangible result in September 2025 with Executive Order 14346. This order introduced a new Annex III and provided a framework for tariff relief for dozens of herbs, including key herbal ingredients such as turmeric, ginger, Boswellia, green and black tea, and cinnamon. Advocacy is ongoing to expand this list to include other essential ingredients like ashwagandha and bacopa.

Meanwhile, the broader policy landscape, driven by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its “Make America Healthy Again” focus, presents a potential opportunity to increase consumer access to natural products. AHPA is engaged in ongoing talks proposing to FDA sensible regulatory reforms that will help ensure responsible commerce and promote innovation for an industry critical to helping address the ongoing healthcare affordability crisis.

A critical legal development was the FDA’s reversal on NMN’s status in September 2025. The FDA has now asserted that Nicotinamide Mononucleotide (NMN) is not excluded from the legal definition of a dietary supplement under the controversial “drug-preclusion” clause. This decision acknowledged evidence that NMN was marketed as a supplement before its formal investigation as a new drug.

While the outcome is favorable to the industry, it introduces regulatory ambiguity regarding how the agency will interpret and enforce “prior marketing” in future cases. Furthermore, anticipation is high for forthcoming federal clarity, specifically for guidance documents on Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) and New Dietary Ingredient Notification (NDIN) processes.

Overall, the coming year is expected to feature continued growth of herbal products and dietary supplements in an environment that will likely include continued volatility in trade policies and ongoing regulatory reform and legislative activity at the state and federal level.