Health brands are hot — but they better be clean, compliant, and margin-positive.
FY25 showed that M&A in health and ingredients isn’t slowing — it’s just growing up. Forget hype and influencers. Buyers now want clinically backed, regulation-ready, margin-smart products with loyal followings and export potential.
Just look at the plays. Forbidden Foods bought Oat Milk Goodness for $3.4m — a clean-label, seed-oil-free oat milk that had already cracked Woolies and Ampol. Smart Foods acquired Fenn Foods’ alt-protein assets after liquidation, salvaging Veef and Love Buds in a tidy comeback story. And Nutrafruit, maker of Queen Garnet plum products, started pushing hard into Asia through licensing and JV deals.
What’s driving all this? Consumers are upgrading — in vitamins, in baby food, in fermented and functional lines. But buyers are cautious. They’re combing through HACCP logs, TGA listings, shelf stability, and claims compliance like forensic accountants.
If you’re in the wellness game and thinking of selling:
- Get your documentation clean: TGA, HACCP, IP ownership
- Diversify your channels: not just Woolies — think pharmacy, online subs, Asia
- Prove your margins: by SKU, by function, by cohort
And please — stop leading with founder stories and unproven claims. Buyers want depth: commercial leads, ops managers, and a system they can inherit, not unravel.
The verdict? Health and ingredients is still booming. But FY26 buyers won’t pay for fluff — they’ll pay for formulation, compliance, and brand clarity that actually moves the needle.
