As part of Nutraceuticals World’s 2026 State of the Industry review, Wilson Lau, President of Nuherbs, examines how trade policy, sustainability, and labeling compliance are reshaping the supplement and functional beverage markets. He emphasizes the growing importance of Country of Origin accuracy, sustainability certifications like FairWild, and industry-wide partnerships to ensure authenticity, efficacy, and responsible growth in 2026 and beyond.

Tariffs and Country of Origin. Concern over these aspects of trade will not go away in 2026 and will remain topics du jour, with an added emphasis on Country of Origin to ensure people are paying the correct tariff rate.

Government focus has been on the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) Code to ensure your goods are classified correctly. I predict 2026 will be the year when Country of Origin is of utmost interest from a Customs perspective. Is there enough transformation and/or added value for a product to be classified as a product of the exporting country if it has a lower rate than the country where the majority of the components or ingredients were made?

If you haven’t done enough to change the nature of that good to be classified from a lower-tariffed country, then the transformation may not be significant enough financially to really make that move.

Sustainability

There will be a continual emphasis on sustainability in particular projects that originate from growing or collection areas. There appears to be a demand for regenerative ingredients and other certified ingredients. We just launched our FairWild schisandra, and we will add FairWild eleuthero root and leaves to our certificate in 2026. We are also looking at getting other ingredients certified in China and Peru. We’re actively seeking input from customers as to which ingredients they’d like certified, whether they’re herbs or herbal ingredients.

Functional Beverages

From a market trends perspective, as a botanical ingredient supplier, it behooves us all to support the fast-growing functional beverages market. And by support, I don’t just mean to provide ingredients. Considering this once niche area is now expected to reach $250 billion by 2030, there are multiple reasons for us as an industry to step in to assist and collaborate.

The Function: First and foremost, products must be efficacious and safe. Consumers looking to improve their health and wellness efforts, some still in post-Covid mindset, are looking to beverages to support their mood and stress relief with adaptogens and other botanicals. With a market growing this fast, it is imperative that ingredient experts support them in formulating with proper dosage.

The Flavor: Let’s be authentic. Not all herbs are “tasty.” But our industry is full of brilliant food scientists and sensory panel experts who can support start-ups looking to get into this space. What better way to bring flavor and function — and often natural color as an added bonus — to functional beverages than with actual ginseng or hibiscus or schisandra? Let’s help these entrepreneurs remove artificial and WONF flavors from their labels. (Never mind Red #40.)

The FDA: Some food and beverage companies need our support for proper label claims for functional foods and beverages. We’ve seen structure function claims being made with a nutrition facts panel and disease states mentioned on immune booster drinks. This is not a purposeful misleading of consumers; rather, it is a lack of regulatory knowledge.

With the 2025 health and wellness demand, current state of politics, tariffs and more, the #1 “2025-2026 trend” I see is a massive effort within our incredible industry to collaborate and conquer together. Best line I heard repeatedly at our SupplySide Global booth this year from those we would consider competitors … “Hey, let’s partner.”