If you walked the floor at IFT FIRST this July, you didn’t need a data deck to tell you collagen is booming. From what we saw, the broader theme across many booths was collagen’s shift away from being just a standalone supplement and toward an ingredient that formulators can quietly build into everyday foods: a functional, protein-rich ingredient that adds nutrition without changing how a product looks, tastes, or feels.

New consumer data from Industry Transparency Center’s 2026 Functional Food & Beverage Report backs up what we saw at IFT, and it gets specific about exactly which product forms are winning consumers over, and who is reaching for what.

In the ITC research, collagen consumers from the US and UK were surveyed earlier this year to understand not just whether people are buying collagen, but how they want to consume it. The results show a category that’s still finding its footing on format, with real differences by gender, age, and country that need to be paid attention to.

The Format Leaderboard

When asked which types of functional foods and beverages they prefer for getting their collagen, no single format dominated. Instead, we see a fairly crowded field:

1. Collagen powders (36%) — the category leader, and probably the format most people still picture first when they think “collagen.”
2. Protein bars (35%) — essentially tied for the top spot, reflecting how much collagen has piggybacked onto the broader protein snacking boom.
3. Yogurt (34%) — a format that benefits from collagen slotting naturally into an existing daily habit.
4. Ready-to-drink beverages (33%) — grab-and-go convenience continues to be a major driver.
5. Protein powder containing collagen (29%) — distinct from standalone collagen powder, this is collagen riding along inside a broader protein product.
6. Bone broth (25%) — still holding a loyal following, especially as the format most associated with collagen’s “traditional” origin story. Often favored by consumers preferring a ‘food first’ approach.
7. Snack bars (25%) — the non-protein-forward bar category.
8. Liquid shots (16%) — the smallest segment, though not negligible.

The takeaway: there is no single “right” format for collagen right now. Most consumers are willing to get collagen from at least four or five different delivery mechanisms, which means format innovation and cross-format product lines both have real upside.

Gender Shapes Format Preference

The preferences for collagen formats look different depending on who you ask. Women lean more toward collagen powders (41% vs. 31% of men) and yogurt (35% vs. 33%), formats that fit a more ritualized, at-home wellness routine. Men, on the other hand, gravitate toward protein bars (40% vs. 31% of women) and snack bars (28% vs. 21%), and toward protein powders that happen to contain collagen (33% vs. 26% of women) rather than standalone collagen powder.

When read together, this suggests women are more often seeking collagen specifically and building a routine around it, while men are encountering collagen as a bonus ingredient inside a protein-forward product they were already buying. That’s a meaningful distinction for how a brand should position and message a launch, depending on its primary audience.

Where Age Shapes Format Preference

Age is where the format story gets even more interesting, and most actionable for those thinking about lifetime consumer value.

18-25 year-olds are the clearest outlier: they over-index heavily on protein bars (45%, the highest of any age group) and snack bars (38%, also the highest), and under-index on ready-to-drink beverages (22%, the lowest of any group). This is a portable, on-the-go generation, wanting to pick up collagen inside formats built for convenience rather than seeking it out as a dedicated product.

26-34 and 35-44 year-olds show the strongest pull toward collagen powder specifically (38% and 40%, both above the overall average), suggesting this is the life stage where consumers are most likely to be intentionally building a collagen-focused routine, whether that’s a morning coffee mix-in or a smoothie add.

45-54 year-olds stand out for ready-to-drink beverages, which peak in this group at 39%, the highest of any age bracket, even as their protein bar interest drops to the lowest of any group (24%). This may reflect a shift away from snacking-style consumption toward convenient, single-serve beverage occasions.

55+ consumers show the strongest affinity for yogurt (38%, the highest of any age group) alongside continued strong bone broth interest (23%, on par with the youngest cohort), pointing to a preference for collagen delivered through familiar, food-based formats.

Put simply: younger consumers want convenience formats, the middle-age cohort wants intentional, ritual-based formats like powders, and older consumers gravitate toward familiar, food-adjacent formats like yogurt and broth. If you don’t intentionally define your target audience for a collagen launch, your single-format campaign may overlook many potential customer groups.

US vs. UK: Notable Gaps Appear

Format preference also varies by country. UK consumers show a stronger pull toward collagen powder (38% vs. 33% in the US) and protein bars (36% vs. 35%, a smaller gap but still UK-leaning), while US consumers lean more heavily into bone broth (29% vs. 22% in the UK) and ready-to-drink beverages (34% vs. 31%). That bone broth gap is particularly notable given how associated the format is with US wellness culture, providing a useful data point for any brand weighing which formats to prioritize by market.

What This Means for the Rest of 2026

Coming out of IFT FIRST, it was clear that collagen is moving into new spaces and formats. What once was a niche, single-format ingredient is now becoming a major theme, with formulators working it into every functional food and beverage application. Consumer data confirms that this shift is being met with real demand, but that demand is split across formats rather than consolidated around a single winning proposition.

For CSA members, the opportunity isn’t picking the “best” format. It’s matching that format to a specific audience: convenience-driven bars and snacks for younger consumers, powders for the 26-44 group building an intentional routine, and beverages and yogurt for the 45+ audience that wants collagen folded into something familiar. As the category keeps expanding, the brands paying attention to who is choosing which format, and why, will be the ones turning this year’s show floor buzz into next year’s shelf space.

Data source: ITC 2026 Functional Food & Beverage Survey, US and UK collagen consumers, fielded May-June 2026.