Touchdown for Wellness? How are Health & Wellness trends influencing shoppers ahead of the biggest sporting event of the year?

As Super Bowl 2025 approaches, consumer purchasing behaviors may reflect a heightened focus on health and wellness. Insights from NIQ's Mid-Year Consumer Outlook: Guide to 2025 reveal that 46% of consumers have prioritized physical or mental wellness, influencing their shopping choices.?

Have these trends carried over to the largest sporting/consumer spectacle on the calendar? How are some categories leveraging healthier products to appeal to the desire for more snacks that fit these evolving health, wellness and lifestyle trends? And how are brands innovating and investing in their product content to make these products discoverable during one of the crowded shopping events of the year? ?

Let’s explore ????

Super Bowl LIX?

The Super Bowl is the largest snacking event of the year, and next to Thanksgiving is the second largest event for food and beverage sales in the United States. On Sunday February 9th 2025, the reigning 2-time champions the Kansas City Chiefs will face the Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans, alongside a mega halftime show performance from Kendrick Lamar and SZA (important as the halftime show is the most important feature of the event for 19% of viewers!)?

In 2024 the Super Bowl earned an audience of 202.4 million people around the world, with the largest U.S audience since the Moon Landing in 1969 at 123.4 million. ?

And Super Bowl viewers aren’t just watching; their snacking. NRF predicts that the total spend on Super Bowl related items like snacks, beverages and even electronics will total $18.6 billion, with an average per-person spend of $91.58. As shoppers continue to prioritize at-home spend over the out-of-home experiences, we can expect more shoppers to aid their at-home viewing experience with a large one-off spend on elaborate snacks. In fact, of the 66% of Americans who plan to watch the game, 73% will snack on combinations of chips and dip during the game, 52% will serve pizza and 45% will serve acholic beverages.?

If you want to read some more about the fun numbers associated with Super Bowl snacking, check out our full report, backed with fun insights and practical advice for content strategies

We know shoppers are purchasing snacks in high volumes, but is the recent health and wellness revolution set to impact purchase decision making ahead of 2025’s game? ?

The Health and Wellness Revolution

In 2025, health and wellness trends are continuing to redefine how consumers approach product discovery and decision-making, presenting both challenges and opportunities for brands and retailers alike. As individuals increasingly prioritize their physical and mental well-being, they are seeking products that align with specific health goals, dietary needs, and lifestyle choices. ?

While shoppers remain cautious spenders, NIQ data indicates that shoppers are intending to spend more in areas like Fresh Produce, Fresh Meat and Health and Wellness. This means that despite inflationary pressures on their budgets, shoppers are putting healthy choices first.

From an increased adoption of GLP1 medications and weightless drugs, to an upward trend of shoppers altering their behavior to address obesity and other conditions, shoppers across the spectrum have a renewed interest in the products they are purchasing and consuming. In fact, 62% of shoppers say that ‘healthiness' is a key driver for food and beverage purchases.

With the rising adoption of GLP-1 medications and weight loss drugs, alongside a broader shift in consumer behavior toward addressing obesity and related health concerns, shoppers are becoming increasingly mindful of the products they purchase and consume.

As we move through 2025, the growing use of GLP-1 medications will continue to influence shopping habits, driving demand for products that help manage side effects such as nausea, low blood sugar, and digestive issues. With some brands now tailoring packaging and labeling to appeal to GLP-1 users, competition for innovation in the health and wellness space is intensifying—making accurate, engaging, and discoverable product content more important than ever.

Shoppers today expect clear, transparent, and detailed product information, from clean-label ingredients and functional benefits to certifications like organic and allergen-free. For brands, meeting these expectations isn’t just about visibility—it’s about building trust and long-term loyalty by positioning themselves as true partners in their customers’ wellness journeys.

So how are these healthy habits likely to affect Super Bowl spending? Lets take a look at one category experiencing a dynamic shift into the health and wellness space: Sodas.

Healthy Sodas?

The beverage industry is witnessing significant innovation as brands respond to these health and wellness trends and are helping shoppers fulfil their usual Super Bowl beverage presences with some ‘healthier’ alternatives. ?

Data shows that there will be an estimated $979 million spent on soft drinks including soda ahead of the game, with 50% of Super Bowl watchers indicating that they would purchase soda for the game. ?

Newcomers in the soda-sphere, ?Ollipop and Poppi are shaking up the industry, offering shoppers gut-healthy, prebiotic versions of their favorite soda flavors. ?

Both Ollipop and Poppi have run marketing campaigns in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, and in 2024 Poppi ran a Super Bowl commercial campaign centered around being ‘the future of soda.’ ?

This year, Poppi is returning to the Super Bowl ad space, this year titled ‘Soda Thoughts’?an ad exploring the guilt people face when contemplating drinking a soda. “You get stuck in analysis paralysis because you think soda isn’t good for you,” said Nari Kim, group creative director of Virtue Worldwide. The commercial is tapping into the younger audience by?featuring influencers Alix Earle, Jake Shane and Love Island USA star Rob Rausch.?

With the industry shake-up from brands like Olipop and Poppi, Soda giants Pespi and Coca Cola are re-investing in the functional beverage space, launching brand new ranges and bringing some older brands back to life to compete with these emerging challenger-brands. ?

Coca Cola is introducing Simply Pop to its Simply branded range of beverages, set to launch in the spring of 2025. Simply Pop is a range of malt-beverages?in different flavors. Shoppers are currently able to shop from the Simply Spiked range, a selection of alcoholic beverages focused on using real fruit juice and lower sugar with 'refreshing natural flavors.' This innovation appeals to the growing popularity of hard seltzers among Gen Z, with 20% of GenZ shoppers indicating they would be purchasing Ready-to-drink cocktails and 18% selecting hard seltzers to enjoy during the Super Bowl.

Coca Cola's simply brand is also?partnering with iced tea brand Gold Peak to introduce Simply Gold Peak, a simply range of low-sugar and real fruit iced-tea drinks. This is important for health-conscious shoppers in the South, of which 29% will reach for iced-tea as their beverage of choice during the game. Innovations into these categories to offer lower-sugar, healthier alternatives will appeal to those shoppers that are starting to prioritize their health.

Pepsico?are also currently reformulating their 2021 launch of their functional sparkling water beverage Soulboost. Soulboost is a range of sparkling water beverages that contain ‘brain-stimulating ingredients.’?These innovations reflect the broader industry trends towards, functional-wellness oriented beverages.

Final Thoughts: A New Playbook for Game Day

As we approach Super Bowl 2025, one thing is clear: shoppers are rewriting the game-day playbook. The days of exclusively unhealthy Super Bowl spreads are fading, replaced by a balanced approach to indulgence and wellness.

This shift presents an opportunity for brands, retailers, and food manufacturers to meet consumers where they are—offering delicious, innovative, and wellness-driven products that fit into their evolving lifestyles. It will then be vital that these innovative new products and reformulated lines are discoverable across the omnichannel to meet shoppers wherever they are shopping.

After all, the Super Bowl is still about fun, flavor, and celebration—just with a healthier twist. ??????

Find out more about crafting these winning omnichannel product content strategies ahead of mega-events like the Super Bowl in our latest report with our friends at GfK Etilize Inc. - An NIQ Company ????

If you would like help perfecting your content strategies, contact our teams today for a consultation to understand how we can help you achieve your goals. ?