I’m back from HOLOLIFE and my desk still looks like a detective board: three lanyards, three badges, three very different slices of the health & wellness industry.
FIBO (April, Cologne) — my first close-up collision with the mainstream fitness + wellness market: loud, crowded, high-energy, consumer-facing.
Vitafoods Europe (May, Barcelona) — the nutraceutical supply chain in its purest form: B2B, focused, quiet conversations, serious buyers and manufacturers. (It also marked the move from Geneva to Barcelona.)
HOLOLIFE Summit (June, Tallinn) — biohacking, longevity, health optimization: the ideas layer, the protocols layer, the “where this is going” layer.
All three were research missions for our health venture (codename CoreOne)—and together they gave me a much clearer map of what we’re building, who we’re building it for, and how to win in a market that’s both booming and noisy.
1) FIBO: the market is massive, the signal is… buried in noise
FIBO in Cologne was my first proper immersion into the health & wellness scene at scale. It’s loud, it’s chaotic, it’s brilliantly alive—and it made one thing obvious: this industry has momentum.
The event itself was positioned as a “future-ready” industry meeting point, with organizers highlighting innovation and the growing convergence of fitness, wellness, and health.
And the scale is very real: some recaps cite 150k+ visitors and 1,200+ exhibitors (numbers vary by source, but the message is consistent: huge).
What I was looking for at FIBO (CoreOne lens)
I wasn’t there to “be impressed.” I was there to understand the battlefield:
Supplement competitors: what categories dominate (energy, protein, hydration, gut health, longevity), what formats win (RTD, gummies, powders), what claims are everywhere.
Brand communication: how brands signal trust (science cues, athlete cues, “clean label” cues), and how quickly it slips into generic.
Partner discovery: who’s building real quality, who’s just doing loud packaging.
One FIBO recap I read framed the big theme as hybrid fitness + personalization—members moving fluidly between physical training, digital tracking, and app-based experiences. That’s not just a gym trend; it’s a behavioral baseline for what “health products” need to plug into.
My takeaway from FIBO
FIBO is the demand-side theater: energy, lifestyle identity, performance obsession, aspiration marketing. It’s also where you learn quickly:
the category is crowded,
attention is expensive,
and differentiation cannot be just “better ingredients” or “better taste.”
If CoreOne is going to matter, it has to be precision + outcomes + trust, not noise.
2) Vitafoods: the supply chain revealed itself (and it’s a whole universe)
Then came Vitafoods Europe—and the vibe couldn’t be more different.
Where FIBO is front-stage, Vitafoods is backstage: ingredients, formulations, contract manufacturing, compliance, packaging, stability, QA, logistics. A quieter room, but with higher leverage conversations.
Vitafoods officially moved to Barcelona in 2025 (20–22 May).
And multiple industry sources described the Barcelona edition as record-setting, with ~25,500 attendees and ~1,400 exhibitors reported by event/industry coverage.
What I was looking for at Vitafoods (CoreOne lens)
This is where CoreOne becomes real. Not as a concept—as a product ecosystem.
Contract manufacturers: capabilities, minimum order quantities, lead times, certifications, flexibility (powders, capsules, gummies, liquids).
Ingredient innovation: what’s trending vs what’s actually evidence-aligned (healthy aging, metabolic health, cognitive performance, gut health).
Quality signals: testing, traceability, claims discipline.
Partners we can build with: people who care about doing it right.
Several Vitafoods previews and reviews emphasize macro-demand themes like healthy aging, active lifestyles, and broad “wellbeing” positioning—exactly the kind of umbrella that creates growth and creates sameness.
My takeaway from Vitafoods
Vitafoods is the infrastructure layer of the nutraceutical industry.
It’s also where you realize: the winners will be the ones who connect diagnostics → interpretation → action into a single system—because the supply chain already exists. What’s missing is a trusted, intelligently designed consumer platform that makes it work for real people.
This is precisely the direction we’re exploring with CoreOne.
3) HOLOLIFE: the ideas layer, the protocols layer, the future layer
And now: HOLOLIFE Summit.
The speaker lineup and sessions were stacked—biohacking, longevity, health optimization, human performance. The official program includes names like Vishen Lakhiani, and topics that blend personal development, tech, and health.
There’s also a commercial layer (recordings, etc.) that positions HOLOLIFE as a “top longevity, biohacking, and transformative health” event format.
The part that really mattered: Mastermind Island (near Tallinn)
After the conference, I joined HOLOLIFE Mastermind Island—an invite-only trip near Tallinn with insiders from the biohacking and wellness events world. The Mastermind page itself highlights Teemu Arina, Tim Gray (Health Optimisation Summit) and Vishen Lakhiani (Mindvalley) as part of the group.
From my perspective, it was one of those rare formats where the most valuable part isn’t the stage—it’s the conversations between the sessions. We spent real time networking and talking about where the industry is going: personalization, biomarkers, behavioral adherence, trust, and what it means to build health products that actually change outcomes.
And yes—meeting Vishen was a genuine pleasure.
My takeaway from HOLOLIFE
HOLOLIFE is where you see the future narratives before they become mainstream marketing:
the rise of health optimization as a category,
the normalization of biomarkers and tracking,
the shift from “supplements” to personalized protocols,
and the growing expectation that health brands behave like technology platforms (not FMCG brands).
The CoreOne insight: these three events form a single system
If I map the three events to what we’re building with CoreOne:
FIBO = consumer demand + identity + noise
What people buy today, how they’re persuaded, what the market shouts.
Vitafoods = supply chain + capability + execution reality
How products get made, who you can build with, what quality really means.
HOLOLIFE = thought leadership + early adopters + direction of travel
Where protocols, performance culture, and longevity trends are heading next.
And here’s the real conclusion:
CoreOne sits at the intersection.
A platform where health becomes measurable, interpretable, and actionable—not just inspirational.
We’re actively exploring this space because we believe the next decade belongs to ventures that combine:
diagnostics (data)
a clear interpretation layer (trust + UX + evidence discipline)
and a product/action layer (supplements + nutrition + habits people can actually follow)
Top 10 Trends I saw across FIBO, Vitafoods & HOLOLIFE
1) Personalized health is becoming the default expectation
People don’t want “a supplement.” They want a plan: personalized nutrition, personalized supplementation, personalized protocols—ideally driven by biomarkers, not vibes.
2) Gut health and the microbiome are moving from niche to foundation
Microbiome testing, gut health, prebiotics, probiotics, postbiotics, digestive support, inflammation—this is increasingly framed as the starting layer for immunity, metabolism and mental performance.
3) Biomarkers are the new language of credibility
CGM (continuous glucose monitoring), blood markers, hormone panels, VO2max, DEXA, HRV, sleep metrics—health optimization is becoming measurable, and brands that can’t speak biomarkers will feel outdated.
4) Wearables + dashboards are turning supplements into “systems”
The market is shifting from products to platforms: dashboards, integrations (Apple Health / Oura / Garmin), progress tracking, adherence loops, and feedback-driven recommendations.
5) AI is showing up everywhere — but the winners use it as augmentation
AI in health is moving fast: insight generation, pattern detection, recommendation engines, personalization, support. But the strongest players use AI to enhance strategy + decision-making, not replace it.
6) “Clean label” is table stakes; real differentiation is quality + traceability
Consumers and buyers expect clean ingredients, but serious differentiation is in testing, sourcing, certifications, stability, contaminants screening, and supply-chain transparency—especially in premium health and longevity.
7) Contract manufacturing is consolidating power (and raising the bar)
Vitafoods makes it obvious: the nutraceutical world is an ecosystem of CDMOs/CMOs, ingredient innovators, packaging suppliers, QA labs. The best partners enable speed without sacrificing compliance and quality.
8) Claims, compliance and trust are becoming growth constraints
As the market grows, so does scrutiny. EFSA-style constraints in Europe, data privacy, health data handling, responsible marketing—trust is no longer “nice-to-have,” it’s a go-to-market requirement.
9) Community and expert-led authority are replacing generic influencer marketing
In longevity and biohacking circles, authority is built via educators, clinicians, protocols, masterminds, events, communities—and by showing your work. Trust is increasingly earned through depth, not hype.
10) The category is splitting into two lanes: mass-market energy vs. precision outcomes
FIBO energy is real, but it’s often “lifestyle-first.” HOLOLIFE is “outcome-first.” The future is likely a barbell:
mass consumer wellness (identity, vibe, convenience)
precision health optimization (data, diagnostics, protocols, outcomes)
CoreOne sits naturally in the second lane.
If you were at these events too, I’d love to compare notes
We don’t have blog comments, but if you attended FIBO, Vitafoods Europe, or HOLOLIFE, I’m genuinely curious what stood out for you—especially around personalized nutrition, gut health, longevity, biomarkers, and where the supplement industry is heading.
Reach out on LinkedIn and let’s talk.