Swisse, the Australian health brand, is the leading player in China’s online vitamins and dietary supplements market. According to Euromonitor International E-Commerce data, the brand held a 4.5% market share in year-to-date 2025 sales, maintaining its top position since 2022 without serious competition from other brands.
Swisse’s success in China is underpinned by product innovation that closely aligns with the evolving health priorities of Chinese consumers. This is reinforced by a multi-layered branding strategy that effectively guides consumers from initial awareness to final purchase.
Evolution of China’s consumer health market
The pandemic significantly heightened public awareness around personal health, marking a turning point in the growth trajectory of China’s consumer health market, especially in the vitamins and dietary supplement category.
The percentage of supplement users who take supplements daily or almost every day increased from 20% in 2019 to 27% in 2025 in China
Source: Euromonitor’s Health and Nutrition survey, fielded February 2025
The percentage of parents in the country who give their children supplements doubled from 9% in 2020 to 18% in 2025.
As China’s consumer health market has evolved, the landscape has shifted dramatically. Product positioning has shifted to reflect changing consumer needs, e-commerce has become the dominant channel for discovery and purchase, and a surge of new brands has intensified competition. By 2025, online penetration in vitamins and dietary supplements had reached 63% in China, with platforms like Tmall, Douyin and JD.com becoming mainstream destinations for health-conscious consumers.
Among emerging health concerns, young Chinese consumers are showing increased interest in liver health, which often concerns imbalanced diets and occasional indulgences. In response, Swisse has adopted a portfolio-level strategy to lead this category through targeted innovation and precise segmentation. Its liver detox product line is central to its China strategy, with formulations featuring key ingredients like milk thistle that are tailored to meet diverse consumer needs based on age, drinking habits and lifestyles. In addition, Swisse is capturing emerging demand in innovative categories such as beauty, anti-ageing and cellular energy (ingredients like NAD+ and L-ergothioneine) through products offered under its sub-brands.
Swisse’s success in China comes from a multi-layered branding strategy that guides consumers from awareness to purchase by covering all key touchpoints throughout the path to purchase.
At the top layer, Swisse boosts brand visibility through celebrity endorsements and TV show sponsorships, leveraging star power to enhance recognition. The mid layer focuses on industry credibility and social media influence. Swisse strengthens its professional image through keynote speeches at major industry forums, and engages consumers via KOL recommendations. On Xiaohongshu (China’s top social media focusing on lifestyles), Swisse leverages two key types of paid media to drive consumer engagement: in-feed advertisements, which appear as sponsored posts within users’ regular browsing experience, and search advertisements, which are promoted listings shown when users actively search for health-related products or topics. This dual approach enhances both passive discovery and active intent targeting.
Chinese consumers associate Australian brands with high quality, natural ingredients and high safety standards. In the health and food sector, brands from Australia and New Zealand continue to hold strong potential to earn local trust. However, this trust must be actively reinforced through brand storytelling, packaging and messaging that emphasise origin, purity and regulatory rigour. Identifying the most effective channels to communicate these brand values is critical.
Swisse’s success is also rooted in its ability to align product development and formulation in Australia with the evolving concerns of Chinese consumers. To stay competitive, Australian brands should invest in innovation that reflects local lifestyle patterns, dietary habits and wellness priorities.
Download the report New Consumer Journey in Health Products in Asia for in-depth analysis of the drivers of consumer health consumption in Asia Pacific.
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