"Eyes, blood sugar and fatigue—all in one"... The dietary supplement market is being driven by 'multifunctional, value-focused' products

[Financial News] As dietary supplements become a routine part of everyday health management, consumers are becoming more selective in how they choose products. While people once focused on specific functions such as gut, liver and immune health, the food industry is now reflecting a growing interest in managing multiple health indicators at once, including blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol and fatigue.
According to the Korea Health Functional Food Association on the 1st, South Korea's dietary supplement market was estimated at 5.9626 trillion won last year, up 0.2% from the previous year. The proportion of people who had purchased supplements within the past year was estimated at 83.6%, the highest level in the past five years.
Although the number of buyers is growing, value-conscious consumption—reflected in a decline in average household spending—has also become more evident, along with a shift toward personalized products tailored to individual health concerns.
Consumers reported a wide range of health concerns. Eye health ranked first at 38.2%, followed by fatigue recovery at 31.9%, blood sugar control at 27.4%, joint health at 27.3%, stress at 26.7% and cholesterol improvement at 26.6%.
In particular, fatigue, blood sugar and cholesterol are all drawing significant attention at the same time. Changes in chronic disease-related indicators are also contributing to demand for health management.
According to provisional data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia rose 47%, from 16.7% in 2016 to 24.5% in 2025. Last year, the rates among men were 28.2% for hypertension, 13.1% for diabetes and 26.1% for hypercholesterolemia.
Compared with the previous year, hypertension among men in their 40s rose by 3.7 percentage points and hypercholesterolemia by 5.4 percentage points. Among men in their 50s, diabetes increased by 7.7 percentage points, hypertension by 5.4 percentage points and hypercholesterolemia by 9.4 percentage points.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency emphasized the need for continued health management, particularly in relation to obesity and chronic disease indicators among people in their 40s and 50s.
Against this backdrop, the food industry is expanding product functionality so that consumers can manage multiple health concerns through a single product or daily intake routine.
hy revamped two products from its functional probiotic brand Coopers. This marks the sixth product improvement since the brand was launched in 2004. Coopers Blood Care, which previously focused on liver health, now also offers functions related to blood pressure, postprandial blood glucose and blood cholesterol.
Its sugar content has also been reduced by about 77% compared with the previous version. Coopers Piro Care combines liver-health benefits with functions related to reducing stress-induced fatigue, energy utilization and improved exercise performance.
Pulmuone Health Care launched Plant-Based Probiotics for Fatigue Relief, a converged dietary supplement, in March. The product combines the stress-induced fatigue relief benefits of Rhodiola rosea extract with liver-health benefits from milk thistle and energy production support from B vitamins. It combines dietary supplement tablets and a probiotic drink in a single bottle. Cumulative sales of Pulmuone Green Juice's converged dietary supplement products had surpassed 20 million bottles when the new product was launched.
Maeil Dairies is promoting Sellex Sunfiber Dangsolve as offering four functions: promoting the growth of beneficial intestinal bacteria, facilitating bowel movements, suppressing postprandial blood sugar spikes and improving blood cholesterol.
An industry official said, "The dietary supplement market is becoming more specialized. It is moving beyond simply looking for 'products that are good for your health' toward managing specific concerns such as fatigue, blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol. Product competition is also expanding beyond an emphasis on a single function to the integrated design of multiple functions and greater convenience of use."

[email protected] Kim Seo-yeon Reporter