One in three Indians face high daily stress, often turning to food and beverages for relief. With growing awareness of stress and its impact on wellbeing, demand for mental wellness-focused food and drinks is rising. Yet, the market remains largely untapped, offering brands significant opportunity to innovate and lead.
Therefore, this Report explores emerging key themes such as energy and hydration with stress management, sleep aids for older adults, menopause support for women aged 45+ and beauty-linked wellness.
Mapping the Now, Next, and Future, the report highlights where opportunities lie and how brands can unlock growth in this evolving space.
Stressed Indians are turning to food and drinks for relief. Growth opportunities lie in combining energy, hydration and beauty with mental wellness: aid sleep and address the menopause needs of older generations.
Tulsi Joshi, Principal Food & Drink Market Research Analyst, India
Market Definitions
This report explores behaviour and attitudes towards managing stress and mental wellbeing among Indian consumers. For reasons of simplification, the terms ‘mental wellbeing’, ‘mental wellness’ and ‘mental health’ are interchangeably used and oriented towards the WHO’s definition.
According to the WHO, ‘mental health’ is a state of mental wellbeing that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realise their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community. It is an integral component of health and wellbeing that underpins our individual and collective abilities to make decisions, build relationships and shape the world we live in.
This report explores behaviour and attitudes towards managing stress and mental wellbeing among Indian consumers. For reasons of simplification, the terms ‘mental wellbeing’, ‘mental wellness’ and ‘mental health’ are interchangeably used and oriented towards the WHO’s definition.
According to the WHO, ‘mental health’ is a state of mental wellbeing that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realise their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community. It is an integral component of health and wellbeing that underpins our individual and collective abilities to make decisions, build relationships and shape the world we live in.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- What you need to know
- Report definition
- The outlook for the food and drinks for mental wellbeing category in India
- Key issues covered
- Overview
- Under pressure, over plates: India eats its worries away
- Graph 1: frequency of seeking food and drinks for mental wellness, by day to day level of stress experienced, 2025
- Graph 2: day-to-day stress level experienced, 2025
- Food and drink for mental wellness remains untapped in India
- Graph 3: sought-after benefits in food and drinks for mental wellbeing, 2025
- Graph 4: % of launches with select claims in food and drinks, 2020-25
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HARNESS THE STRESS-ENERGY CONNECTION
- Stress drains, energy gains, but the stress-energy link remains untapped
- Graph 5: % of launches with select functional health claims in food and drinks, 2016-25
- Graph 6: symptoms experienced due to stress, 2025
- Now: unlock opportunities by pairing stress relief with energy
- Graph 7: % of launches with select claims in food and drinks, 2022-25
- Now: give stress-relieving indulgence an energy booster
- Now: incorporate familiar adaptogenic ingredients that can provide energy boosts and stress relief
- Graph 8: total share of food, drink and VMS launches with functional stress & sleep claims, by select ingredients, 2020-25
- Now: revive traditional adaptogens as a solution for fighting physical and mental fatigue
- The dehydration-stress link: an untapped opportunity for functional beverages
- Graph 9: total share of launches in non-alcoholic beverages, nutrition beverages and meal replacements with select words mentioned on pack, 2020-25
- Now: hydration-focused brands can stress mental wellness benefits
- Next: deliver rehydration, refuelling and refreshment benefits in one offering
- Consumers seek different types of energy and at various occasions
- Graph 10: select sought-after attribute at various meal occasions, 2025
- Graph 11: energy-related benefits of interest in packaged non-alcoholic beverages, 2025
- Now: create energy solutions for every moment
- Next: tailor innovations to meet psychophysical needs throughout the day
- Low GI offerings can be the next frontier for sustained energy innovations
- Graph 12: volume of conversation on social media for the search term ‘low GI” OR ‘glycemic’ AND ‘energy’, 2022-25
- Next: beyond diabetes management, low GI can offer sustained energy and mental wellness benefits
- Future: next-gen health-monitoring wearables will amplify the demand for mental and physical energy optimisation
- Future: focus on boosting cellular energy production
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STRESS BEAUTY BENEFITS
- Young Indians turn beauty routines into stress-busters
- Graph 13: % of respondents who strongly agree with the select statement, 2025
- Graph 14: volume of conversations with select word on various social media channels, 2020-25
- Stressed Indians experience more beauty issues; social media chatter on skin-stress and hair-stress is on an upward trajectory
- Graph 15: symptoms generally experienced due to mental stress, by select consumer segments, 2025
- Beauty benefit space remains untapped in food and drink
- Graph 16: frequency of consuming food and drinks to cope with stress, by select consumer segments, 2025
- Nutricosmetics boom: food and drinks can compete with beauty supplements by focusing on taste, routine integration and format familiarity
- Graph 17: % of launches with select functional claims in VMS, 2020-25
- Graph 18: % of respondents who experience hair loss/skin damage due to stress, by select statements, 2025
- Now: deliver stress relief along with beauty benefits
- Now: lead with taste and promote beauty-enhancing foods and drinks as a daily self-care ritual
- Next: build efficacy of beauty benefits
- Oils, tea and nuts dominate, but coffee and chocolate can be the frontier for stress-and-beauty benefits
- Graph 19: top three (net) foods and drinks consumed for select reasons, by respondents who experience hairloss/skin damage due to stress, 2025
- Now: hone the innate quality of cocoa for promoting mental wellness and beauty benefits
- Next: fortify chocolate and coffee for stress relief and beauty benefits
- Now: enhance chocolate and coffee with stress-relief and beauty benefits
- Next: infuse popular beauty-enhancing ingredients
- Future: cocoa and coffee bean alternatives will rise
- Next: offer mental wellbeing and beauty benefits in convenient and fun formats
- Next: promote hydration for mental wellness and beauty benefits
- Future: microtarget varied skin and hair concerns
- Graph 20: skin issues experienced on face and body, 2025
- Graph 21: hair concerns, 2024
- Future: microtarget various skin issues and hair conditions
- Future: gut health benefits will integrate mental wellness and beauty benefits with holistic wellness
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SLEEP AID BENEFITS FOR THE UPCOMING SILVER GENERATION
- Embrace the upcoming silver tsunami in India
- Graph 22: % total share of population, by age, 1990-2050
- Stressed & sleepless: older generation turns to dairy for sleep aid benefits
- Stressed & sleepless: older generation turns to dairy for sleep aid benefits
- Graph 23: % of respondents who cope with stress with food and drinks, by age, 2025
- Now: revive the association of sleep with milk
- Now: fortify dairy with relaxation and sleep aid benefits
- Next: elevating sleep quality and duration can be the next frontier for sleep-enhancing dairy
- Future: gut health will promote sleep aid and mental wellness benefits
- Future: offer health-enthusiasts sleep enhancement for nighttime recovery
- Stress peaks with age, hitting older women hardest
- Graph 24: select level of day-to-day stress experienced, by gender and age, 2025
- Graph 25: select level of day-to-day stress experienced, by age, 2025
- Patents that ease menopause symptoms in the food, drink and supplements sectors have quintupled over the last decade globally
- Graph 26: patents related to food, drink and supplements to relieve menopausal symptoms, published each year, 2014-24
- Now: support menopause management with better sleep and mood regulation
- Next: use probiotics to improve sleep and mental wellbeing in menopause
- Future: beyond weight loss – GLP-1 will seize the opportunity for peri-and menopause
- Key takeaways
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APPENDIX
- Report definition
- Consumer survey methodology
- Social data research methodology
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