There was a time when healthy eating was viewed as another passing consumer trend. The latest ORESA Executive Search Growth Index 2026 suggests those days are over.
Look down this year’s list of Britain’s fastest-growing companies and a clear pattern emerges. Gut health. Functional nutrition. Healthy convenience. Wellness. These are no longer niche categories—they are becoming some of the industry’s strongest growth engines.
The success of brands such as Ancient + Brave, PerfectTed, Prep Kitchen, Kendal Nutricare and Bio&Me reflects something much bigger than impressive sales figures. Collectively, they point towards a structural shift in how consumers value food and drink.
What’s particularly interesting is that these businesses span very different categories. One specialises in dietary supplements, another in matcha drinks, another in prepared meals, while Bio&Me has built its reputation around gut health. Yet all are benefiting from the same underlying consumer mindset: people increasingly want products that contribute positively to their health without sacrificing convenience or enjoyment.
Jon Walsh, CEO of Bio&Me, perhaps summed up the trend most effectively when he observed that while consumers reduced spending on some premium indulgent products during the cost-of-living crisis, “they kept going on health.”
For manufacturers, that should prompt an important question. Is health no longer simply a product claim, but a commercial strategy?
We’re already seeing functional ingredients appear in categories that traditionally had little association with wellbeing, from beverages and snacks to bakery and dairy. Advances in ingredient technology, formulation and food science are making it easier to incorporate nutritional benefits into mainstream products, while consumers are becoming more knowledgeable — and more demanding — about what they buy.
That doesn’t mean every product needs a health claim. But it does suggest manufacturers should consider how nutrition, functionality and convenience fit into future product development strategies.
If the Growth Index is any indication, the brands growing fastest aren’t necessarily selling less food or drink — they’re selling more reasons for consumers to feel they’re making a positive choice.
For an industry built on responding to changing consumer demand, that may be the most significant trend of all.
