BE · SYNC · WAVE
: How Wellness Takes Shape in 2025–2026

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  CJ BIO analyzed wellness trends for 2025–2026 and observed a shift in which wellness is moving beyond personal willpower or interest toward a structure of real behaviors and choices. Within this context, CJ BIO developed the BE · SYNC · WAVE trend framework to explain how the way consumers aspire to live becomes translated into functional needs, and how those choices expand into everyday practices.

   

  
  Macro Wellness (BE)
  : A Shift in the “Way” Wellness Is Approached
  

   

  BE is a compound concept derived from Bespoke Wellness and Efficacy-led Wellness, while also signifying “BE” as behavior. It represents the macro wellness environment that defines how consumers act and live, before determining what they choose. In other words, the standard of wellness is shifting from what to select to how to manage and live.
  
  Bespoke Wellness: The Expansion of Self-Directed, Personalized Wellness
  
  With greater access to health information and the lasting impact of the pandemic, consumers are increasingly adopting self-managed approaches to wellness that allow them to reduce costs and maintain control. As values shift from corrective, post-issue health management toward prevention, consumers are actively designing their own health priorities, driving the growth of the Personalized Nutrition market. As a result, demand for ingredient control is increasing, long-term consumption of synthetic ingredients is being avoided, and preference for natural ingredients is strengthening.
  
  Efficacy-led Wellness: Accelerated Growth of Functional Food & Beverage Wellness Categories
  
  As food is increasingly recognized as an everyday foundation for disease prevention and health maintenance, demand for functionality appears to be expanding across the wellness landscape. Functional benefits are becoming more segmented around areas directly linked to daily health management, accelerating the expansion of function-centric wellness categories such as energy, gut health, immunity, muscle, bone, and joint health.

   

  Within this context, interest in high-value plant-based functional ingredients—including mushroom-derived compounds, rhodiola, turmeric, and ashwagandha—is increasing. Ingredients positioned as adaptogens for fatigue and stress management, as well as nootropics targeting brain and cognitive performance, are also showing strong growth signals.
  
  

  
  

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  Functional Demand (SYNC)
  : Functional Alignment of Health Needs

   
  SYNC refers to the stage at which wellness behavior standards formed in the BE phase are translated into concrete health problem-solving needs, becoming aligned with specific functional ingredients, products, and solutions. Health needs are no longer broad or abstract concerns; they are being structured around clear functional axes such as weight management, longevity, women’s health, and mental well-being.

  
  Stable Weight Shift: Long-Term Management Patterns for Healthy Weight
  
  Weight management is showing a shift away from short-term weight loss toward more sustainable, long-term management approaches, accompanied by increasing consumption in this category. While interest in high-protein products remains strong, diversification of protein sources—including plant-based and mycelium-based options—appears to be reshaping the market. In addition, the mainstream adoption of GLP-1 medications is contributing to rising demand for “GLP-1 Friendly” products aimed at addressing nutritional imbalance. As reduced food intake raises concerns around muscle loss and micronutrient deficiencies, the launch of high-protein, high-fiber, nutrient-dense products is accelerating.
  
  
  Yielding Longevity: Active Longevity Across All Age Groups
  

  

  Driven by structural factors such as population aging and rising healthcare costs, the longevity market is showing signs of expansion across food, beverage, and supplement categories. Beyond anti-aging and disease prevention, active longevity—focused on maintaining quality of life—appears to be emerging as a core value. Demand for multi-functional support spanning bone, joint, muscle, cognitive, and cardiovascular health is increasing. Functional priorities differ by generation: Gen Z shows heightened interest in immune-based preventive care and tends to favor stress-relief and calming categories, while Gen X and Boomers demonstrate stronger demand for maintaining daily activity and physical function, including heart, vision, and cognitive health.

   

  
  NutuHER Health: Specialization of Women’s Life-Stage Solutions
  
  Demand for nutrition solutions tailored to women appears to be expanding, reflecting physical, hormonal, mental, and metabolic health issues that change across life stages. Functional needs are becoming increasingly segmented across hormones; physical health (bone, joint, muscle, metabolism); mental health (cognition, emotion, sleep); and personal care such as skin. At the same time, research and development of women’s health functionality based on existing ingredients is gaining momentum. Functional research on ingredients such as L-theanine for relaxation and cognitive support, as well as studies addressing PMS symptom relief, can be interpreted as representative examples of this growing specialization.
  

   

  
  Calm Calibration: Everyday Integration of Mental Well-Being
  
  Food consumption is increasingly viewed as a tool for emotional regulation rather than solely an energy source, contributing to the expansion of wellness markets centered on mood, stress, and sleep. Approaches focused on emotional balance—such as blood-sugar-stabilizing diets and natural, plant-based, or low-carbohydrate food choices—are gaining traction, while sleep quality is emerging as a core wellness value. Younger generations, in particular, are showing heightened sensitivity to mental health and increasingly use skincare, sleep, and fitness routines as tools for emotional recovery. In parallel, fitness and nutrition apps are integrating mindfulness and meditation content, accelerating competition within digital mental-health-focused wellness solutions.
  

   

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  Lifestyle Shift (WAVE):
  Routinization of Wellness in Everyday Life

   
  WAVE represents the stage at which aligned functional demand expands into everyday behaviors and consumption patterns.
  
  Wellness Intelligence: AI-Driven Personalized Optimization Routines
  
  Needs related to health prevention, condition management, and appearance improvement appear to be acting as key drivers of AI adoption in wellness. Precision-based personalization—grounded in genetic data, biomarkers, wearable data, and dietary inputs—is expanding, while AI is evolving beyond simple product recommendation toward curation models designed to encourage behavioral change.
  

   

  
  Aware Drinking: The Mainstreaming of Moderation, No- and Low-Alcohol, and Functional Beverages
  
  As the population of non-drinkers grows and moderation culture spreads, no- and low-alcohol beverages are becoming increasingly mainstream. New social drinking cultures, such as “Soft Clubbing” led by Gen Z, are redefining drinking as a means of emotional balance and social connection. Functional De-Stresser beverages featuring ingredients such as magnesium and adaptogens are emerging as key categories. Additionally, cannabis brands have introduced low-dose THC-infused sparkling beverages (“Sparkling Cannabis”), signaling experimentation with mood modulation and experiential drinking.
  

   

  
  Vital Rescue: Practical, Rapid-Response Wellness
  
  Rather than pursuing idealized health goals, wellness consumption appears to be increasingly driven by practical needs to resolve real-time everyday issues. Consumers are seeking to self-manage not only physical discomforts such as fatigue, overeating, and hangovers, but also normalized stress and low mood. The growing attention to ingredients such as peppermint, ginger, ginseng, and milk thistle can be understood within this context. Products offering calming and mood-support benefits without the need for professional diagnosis are also gaining popularity, suggesting that wellness is expanding from long-term management toward immediate recovery and response.
  

   

  
  Experiential Wellness: Experience-Based Whole-Body Reset
  
  Against a backdrop of emotional exhaustion driven by social media and accumulated daily stress, consumers are increasingly seeking active emotional recovery rather than simple rest. Premium, in-person wellness experiences—including boutique fitness, wellness retreats, IV therapy, and wellness travel—are showing signs of growth, with immersive experiences encouraging repeat engagement and long-term habit formation.
  

   

   

   

  CJ BIO’s Perspective on Translating Wellness into Solutions

   

  As wellness evolves from aspiration to everyday practice, CJ BIO supports brands across each stage of the BE · SYNC · WAVE framework—aligning consumer behaviors with functional needs and translating them into solutions that fit naturally into daily routines.

   

  Through science-based ingredients including biotics, botanicals, and amino acids, CJ BIO helps bridge functional demand and real-world application, enabling effective and relevant wellness solutions.

   

  A focused report on biotics-related trends is currently in development.
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