Drive the evolution of sweet healing, strengthen the role of functional foods and beverages in addressing sleep and stress and unlock opportunities in the emerging space of next-generation ingredients.
Rashmika Khanijou, Senior Analyst
Market Definitions
For the purposes of this Report, Mintel has used the following definitions:
This report examines consumers’ consumption and interest in food and drinks that support stress and sleep. This includes traditional food and drinks and functional food and drinks. The report examines mental wellness as a whole and excludes cognition.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- What you need to know
- Key issues covered in this Report
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MARKET LANDSCAPE
- Stress is widespread, rising fastest among younger Thais
- Graph 1: brain-related challenges experienced in daily life, 2025
- Financial struggles, poor sleep quality and health problems are key sources of stress
- Graph 2: main causes of mental stress, 2025
- Rise in chronic mental health disorders reframes stress as a long-term wellness issue
- The gap: functional foods and beverages face challenges gaining traction in the stress and sleep market
- Graph 3: share of product launches in food and drinks with ‘functional-stress & sleep’ claim, 2020-25
- Demand for stress and sleep support is surging: Mintel’s Reports trace a significant movement
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TAP INTO STRESS COPING RITUALS: EVOLUTION OF SWEET HEALING
- Indulgence is framed as emotional self-care for ‘Sweet Healers’
- Graph 4: actions currently taken to cope with stress, 2025
- Now: turn emotional eating to empowered eating and bring back control
- Next: reimagine healthy drinks such as juices and vitamin waters as indulgent escapes
- Graph 5: types of food/drink in which consumers would like to see more options to help with stress/sleep, by Sweet Healers vs total, 2025
- Next: promote chewy textures in juices for emotional grounding
- Next: promote chewable juices as a snack for emotional uplifting
- Next: tap into the science behind ‘crunch’ as a stress language that addresses emotional tension
- Next: develop sweet × savoury mashups to meet the palates of Sweet Healers
- Next: transform home cooking into an indulgence ritual that Sweet Healers can create and enjoy themselves
- Next: focus on the emotional beauty in cooking, not perfection
- Future: align sweet healing with modern mindfulness rituals and unlock aroma’s role
- Beverages are being incorporated into wellness rituals in Thailand: wine yoga and matcha yoga are trending
- Future: aromatherapy sweets integrated as a regimen in yoga, meditation and sound healing
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TARGETING STRESS THROUGH SLEEP AND DEFENDING THE POSITIONING OF FUNCTIONAL FOOD/DRINK
- Diverse sleep challenges are fuelling the stress cycle
- Now: functional food/drinks for sleep fall behind VMS and traditional food solutions
- Graph 6: actions consumers plan on doing in the next year to promote better sleep, by Stressed-out Consumers vs Not Stressed-out Consumers, 2025
- Now: promote better sleep quality by targeting anxiety with functional food/drinks
- Integrate functional food/drinks into exercise routines to build relevance to sleep
- Now: tap into the recovery and sleep science of avocados
- Now: support sleep and stress through hydration
- Next: support exercise recovery through cortisol reduction, inherently promoting sleep quality
- Next: gain relevance by empowering mid-life women with sleep and mood support
- Graph 7: symptoms experienced that consumers think are related to a hormonal imbalance, by gender and age, 2025
- Next: support mid-life women’s resilience through hormonal balance
- Future: as ‘sleepmaxxing’ grows, functional food/drinks will complement beauty and personal care
- Future: Sleepmaxx Synergy Set for tapping into the sleep routine
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MAPPING INGREDIENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR STRESS AND SLEEP
- Ingredient landscape for stress and sleep support
- Graph 8: ingredient landscape for stress/sleep, penetration vs perceived efficacy, 2025
- Ingredient strategy for stress and sleep support
- Now: modernise botanical herbs to push their full potential in sleep/stress
- Next: reframe biotics for sleep and stress through the gut
- Next: promote fermented foods, especially yogurt, within the sleep and stress narrative
- Next: position synbiotics at the intersection of gut, stress and sleep
- Next: educate on the science of GABA, the underrated hero for stress and sleep
- Next: drive premiumisation of stress/sleep food/drinks with magnesium and L-theanine synergy
- Future: formulations for stress/sleep will align with metabolic health and chrono-nutrition
- Future: Metabolic balance set MetabioSync
- Key takeaways
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APPENDIX
- Report definition
- Consumer research methodology
- Repertoire analysis
- Consumer research questions
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