All very well

From ice baths to mindfulness retreats, the wellness industry is booming. Maybe it's time we started to question why that might be. 

- NIKI BEZZANT

Former reality-show star and online influencer Art Green smiles at the camera before lowering his chiselled abdo-men into a chest freezer he’s converted into an at-home ice bath.

His wife, Matilda, demonstrates a smoothie for her 160,000 Instagram followers, made from “all natural” marine collagen powder, almond butter, protein powder and chia seeds.

Local nutraceutical company SRW Laboratories offers its DNAage saliva kit to “test your biological age”, alongside supplements to help you shave a few years off(starting price: $89 a month). Studio Red Wellness offers not only yoga in its architect-designed Auckland premises, but a bespoke range of teas and organic infusions starting at $36 a tin.

All of these things fit within the varied terrain of modern wellness practices. The wellness industry – encompassing dietary supplements, fitness, alternative healing practices, health food, diets and even “clean” beauty – is worth about US$1.5 trillion a year globally, and it’s predicted to keep on growing. In New Zealand, retail sector research company IRI reports the natural health category is booming – dietary supplement sales alone have grown 13% in grocery outlets and pharmacies in the past year to $283 million.

Data from IRI’s “State of the Industry Household Shopper Survey” suggests we’re no longer interested only in supplements. Almost two-thirds of New Zealanders believe food can be as powerful as medicine. As a result, manufacturers in many grocery categories are developing products to cash in on our renewed interest in being and staying well.