Zinc Tops Abandonment, DHC Wins Cost-Performance — The Reality of “Bought but Not Continued” Supplements and Gummies as a Solution

Willbase Inc. (headquartered in Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President: Hiroki Tanaka), operator of the over-the-counter medicine and supplement selection support site “CureBell,” conducted a survey in May 2026 on continuation and purchasing behavior among 601 supplement and health-food users nationwide.

As a result of the survey, the number-one discontinued ingredient/product was “zinc.” DHC’s multivitamin, which ranked top for cost performance, also appeared as the second-most discontinued product, highlighting a reality where popular, cost-effective products are nevertheless not continued. Conversely, gummy-form supplements rose to second place in repeat-intent rankings, indicating that “ease of taking” is a key to habitual use.

Survey Overview

Method: Internet survey

Target: Men and women with experience using supplements/health foods

Valid responses: 601 (female 450 / male 141 / other 10)

Survey period: May 2026

POINT 1 — Zinc is the top discontinued ingredient: “difficulty swallowing” and “forgetting” hinder continuation

When respondents were asked in a free-response format about products or ingredients they stopped using midway, “zinc” was top with seven mentions. DHC multivitamin (4 mentions) and DHC zinc (3 mentions) brought the total mentions of DHC products to over ten entries on the abandonment list.

Ranking

Discontinued ingredient / product

Mentions

Main reasons for discontinuation

1st

Zinc (ingredient)

7

Difficult to swallow / unclear effects

2nd

DHC / Multivitamin

4

Forgot to take

2nd

Iron (ingredient)

4

Large tablets

4th

DHC / Zinc

3

Could not feel effects

5th

FANCL / Calolimit

2 each

—

5th

Collagen / Creatine (each an ingredient)

2 each

—

* Free responses were normalized and aggregated. Representative discontinuation reasons were extracted from multiple answers.

The largest factors for discontinuation were “difficulty swallowing” and “forgetting to take.” Tablet and capsule shapes and sizes were shown to block sustained use and habit formation.

POINT 2 — DHC multivitamin ranks first for cost performance: verifying the “chosen but not continued” reality with numbers

For “products perceived as good cost performance,” DHC’s multivitamin led with 38 mentions (6.3%). Across all responses, DHC brand products accounted for 31.6%, underscoring a brand strength combining recognition, price, and availability.

Ranking

Products with good cost performance

Mentions

Share (n=601)

1st

DHC / Multivitamin

38

6.3%

2nd

DHC / Vitamin C

12

2.0%

3rd

DHC / Zinc

10

1.7%

4th

DHC / Heme Iron

7

1.2%

5th

Seikatsu Sogo Service / Suppon Komachi

5

0.8%

6th

Dear-Natura / Vitamin C

4

0.7%

Reference

DHC brand total

190

31.6%

However, cross-referencing with the abandonment ranking shows DHC’s cost-performance top products are also present on the discontinuation list. The numbers indicate that “cheap and good” and “able to continue” are different issues; products chosen for cost and recognition may have a lower buying barrier and thus enter a cycle where they are tried but discontinued.

Product

Cost-performance rank

Abandonment rank

Implication

DHC / Multivitamin

1st

2nd

“Cheap but not sustainable” pattern

DHC / Zinc

3rd

4th

Zinc ranks top in discontinuation even at ingredient level

DHC / Heme Iron

4th

Fewer discontinuations

Heme iron shows high CP and low discontinuation, suggesting better continuity characteristics.

POINT 3 — 41% buy in bulk once a month; monthly spending of ¥1,000–3,000 is common — subscription uptake is limited

Monthly spending on supplements was most commonly ¥1,000–3,000 (41%). Purchase frequency was dominated by “once a month” (41%), indicating a style of buying a certain amount in bulk. High-frequency buyers (weekly or more) comprised only 8%, showing that transition to subscriptions or regular deliveries has not progressed significantly.

Bulk buying can result in a feeling of security after purchase and may not lead to daily usage habits. Low purchase frequency and the abandonment reason “forgetting to take” may be two sides of the same problem.

POINT 4 — Gummy supplements rise for “ease of continuation” — UHA dominates taste, repeat intent is 2nd (29 mentions)

When asked which gummy supplements they found tasty, products from UHA Mikakuto gathered 33 mentions and took a commanding lead. Mentions of “gummy supplements (general)” also totaled eight, indicating strong support for the gummy format itself beyond specific brands.

Ranking

Product name

Mentions (normalized)

1st

UHA gummy supplements (various: iron, vitamin C etc.)

33

2nd

Gummy supplements in general (no brand specified)

8

3rd

Gummy supplement (iron)

3

4th

Mikakuto gummy supplements

2

* Entries such as “UHA gummy supplement,” “UHA gummy supplement iron,” and “UHA Mikakuto gummy supplement” were normalized and combined.

Additionally, for “products respondents want to repeat,” gummy supplements in general (shape specified) ranked second with 29 mentions, following DHC’s multivitamin (37). This number far exceeded DHC’s heme iron and zinc (12 each), and notably the answers specified the gummy “form” rather than a particular brand or ingredient.

Ranking

Products people want to repeat

Mentions

1st

DHC multivitamin (normalized)

37

2nd

Gummy supplements in general (shape-specified, multiple brands combined)

29

3rd

DHC heme iron (same)

12

3rd

DHC zinc (same)

12

5th

Multivitamin (brand unspecified)

8

6th

Suppon Komachi

6

* “Gummy supplement,” “UHA gummy supplement,” and “gummy supplement iron” were combined; many answers specified the form.

Combined with the POINT 1 discontinuation reason of “tablets (capsules) being hard to swallow,” gummy formats appear to directly solve that problem. The experience of “tasty and easy to take, therefore continued” may be one answer to the habit-formation challenge that conventional supplements have not solved.

Summary

Underlying reasons for the “bought but not continued” problem include resistance to tablets/capsules, forgetting doses, and weak perceived effects. This survey revealed that even cost-performance leaders like DHC are not always continued, with zinc ranking as the top discontinued ingredient.

While DHC accounted for 31.6% of cost-performance mentions, the presence of the same products in the abandonment ranking suggests that perceived price/quality and the experience of being able to continue are separate considerations. Gummy supplements secured second place (29 mentions) for repeat intent thanks to their unique values of taste and ease of continuation. Going forward, the supplement market will need to emphasize not only ingredient design but also product form and user-experience design as important axes for habit formation and differentiation. Supporting continuity and habit formation through subscription or regular-delivery mechanisms is also an industry-wide challenge given the prevalence of monthly bulk buying.

On provision of the survey dataset

This survey