Colostrum boom: Increased distribution for multi-benefit formulas is driving growth of colostrum

An ingredient with gaining new attention is colostrum, which has recently demonstrated significant growth across multiple categories driven by increased interest in its multiple benefits and effective distribution. Located in the beauty-from-within and immune health categories, colostrum is simultaneously positioned at the intersection of evolving trends.

Growth and New Direction

According to data from SPINS, in the 52 weeks ending on November 30, 2025, this nutrient-dense supplement saw significant growth in multiple channels. During this time, it saw 2454.2% sales growth in the hair, skin, and nails category to reach just over $13 million in the mainstream multioutlet channel, and 203.4% sales growth in the immune health category of the natural channel, reaching nearly $4 million.

The significant growth of colostrum started early in 2025 in the natural and digital channels, says Scott Dicker, senior director of marketing insights at SPINS LLC, who flagged the ingredient for further observation, anticipating a surge. That surge happened faster than Dicker expected, and by end of Q1, colostrum was already seeing significant penetration into the mainstream channel.

Dicker attributes the growth of colostrum mainly to new distribution, as brands capitalize on the ingredient’s multiple benefits. “There's this group of products that position as this all-in-one formula, where it's doing so many things: immune health, hair, skin and nails, beauty-from-within, whatever you want to call it. So, there's been a couple brands that have done this really well, and so a lot of it’s new distribution in the channel hitting new markets.,” he stated. “There’s big potential to grow, still.”

The growth of colostrum in the hair, skin, and nail category, particularly, highlights a paradigm shift in how brands market supplements and consumers take them. On the whole, the category is flat in both channels, and most of the top ten best-selling ingredients in the category are seeing declines, except for a few. In MULO, for example, collagen sales fell by 7.8% in hair, skin, and nails, and biotin was flat with 0.5% sales growth, while colostrum exploded with quadruple digit growth. In the natural channel, collagen sales fell 8%, biotin was pretty much flat with 1.7% sales growth, and horsetail/silica fell 6.9% while glutathione ballooned by 2715.7% and multivitamins saw 435.7% sales growth. The category is still relevant, but focus is turning toward longevity rather than cosmetic appearance.

“Beauty-from-within is an area of health span, so it is still of high interest. People are shifting in what ingredients, what brands they’re trying, but you’re also competing with and sometimes complementary with topicals as well. So now you’re seeing ingredients that were mostly topical coming to beauty-from-within, and ingredients that were typically beauty-from-within going to topical. And so that’s capturing the whole market,” explains Dicker. “Hyaluronic acid is a great one to think about there, collagen as well, with collagen peptides. And so, there are different ways that people are looking at this. And sometimes it’s not as overtly marketed for hair, skin, and nails, and it is the ingredient that people heard of that could be multi-faceted or multi-health focus.”

For example, collagen peptides and hyaluronic acid can also be marketed for things like bone and joint health, which fits neatly into the health span conversation. Therefore, beauty-from-within is being reshaped to consider overall health and longevity. In the case of colostrum, beauty-from-within, longevity, and immune health are an attractive combination for consumers not only trying to look good but be healthy.

While more research is warranted, there is evidence to suggest that colostrum is highly beneficial for skin health and aging as it contains hyaluronic acid, which binds water to keep skin hydrated, lactoferrin, which has antimicrobial properties, immunoglobulins that support immune health, growth factors that increase collagen levels, and the telomerase enzyme, which maintains telomere length to slow the aging process.¹

The ingredient is also relevant for active agers. In a review of clinical trials involving athletes and the impact of colostrum supplementation, bovine colostrum was demonstrated to have the potential to strengthen the immune system, protect against diseases, and even support immunity after intense post-exercise immune suppression.²

Similarly, in randomized double-blind placebo-controlled, crossover study, 28 endurance-trained male athletes received 25 g of bovine colostrum for 12 weeks.³ Ultimately, the study found the colostrum to serve as a “a potential stimulator of local immune defense after exercise-induced homeostasis disturbances,” and reducing the risk of the risk of upper respiratory tract infection, however, more research was called for to elucidate the mechanisms of the immunological effect.

Colostrum is not a new ingredient but it’s getting a new life as brands seek to meet the demand for multi-benefit products. This initial surge for the ingredient is a sign of continued growth to come, and presents an opportunity for manufacturers.

References

1. Bolat, E.; Karagöz, Z.; Alves, J.L.B.; Neto, J.P.R.C.; Witkowska, A.M.; El-Seedi, H.; Lombardo, M.; Karav, S. The Potential Applications of Natural Colostrum in Skin Health. Cosmetics. 2024, 11 (6), 197. DOI: 10.3390/cosmetics11060197
2. Yalçıntaş, YM.; Baydemir, B.; Duman, H.; Eker, F.; Bayraktar Biçen, A.; Ertürk, M.; Karav, S. Exploring the Impact of Colostrum Supplementation on Athletes: A Comprehensive Analysis of Clinical Trials and Diverse Properties. Front. Immunol. 2024. 15, 1395437. DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1395437
3. Durkalec-Michalski, K.; Główka, N.; Podgórski, T.; Woźniewicz, M.; Nowaczyk, PM. The Effect of 12-Week High-Dose Colostrum Bovinum Supplementation on Immunological, Hematological and Biochemical Markers in Endurance Athletes: A Randomized Crossover Placebo-Controlled Study. Front. Immunol. 2024. 15, 1425785. DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1425785

Access full Ingredients to Watch coverage, with detailed sales data across the mainstream multioutlet and natural channels here.

Listen to The Nutritional Outlook Podcast for the full interview with Scott Dicker, senior director, market insights, at SPINS.