Move Over, Multivitamins: A Focus on Function

When you think of nutritional supplements, “multivitamin” may first come to mind. Although multi-vitamin/mineral/supplement pills that cover various nutritional sins remain the most commonly used type of product, the nutritional supplement market has broadened its horizons and raised its sights. Today, information-driven consumers often know specifically what they want, and that means a focus on function.

Just as in the functional foods market, consumers are seeking supplements that help address specific health conditions and concerns. In fact, many have turned to ingredients that at times sound like pantry items: turmeric and cinnamon, for example, are two of the hot ingredients in the supplement market. Others are not as appetizing (probiotic bacteria, anyone?) but remain desirable nonetheless for specific digestive maintenance properties.

Consumers are also looking for supplements that keep their promises. Efficacy and credibility have never been more important than in the age of Google searches, media broadsides against dodgy products and deceptive active ingredient claims, and the product pans of consumers who are both disappointed and angry. Supplement developers are increasingly relying on scientific evidence supporting the benefits of specific nutritional ingredients to bolster the industry’s image in the eyes of consumers and the healthcare practitioners who advise them.

The most successful supplement marketers will be those who feature products with supportable claims, including those targeting specific concerns such as joint, brain, and heart health. While the outdatedly named "multivitamins" will remain industry workhorses, function-focused new products featuring marquee ingredients will be the thoroughbreds that drive industry growth.

Supplement marketers must keep their sights squarely focused on target marketing, including those age 65+ and the do-it-yourself-healthcare prone Baby Boomers who have begun swelling the senior ranks. Targeting younger adults whose supplements usage rates have been falling is also critical to the market’s longer-term future, as is reaching the emergent Hispanic population, whose supplement usage rates are below average.

During 2012, supplement sales rose 7% to $11.5 billion, according to Packaged Facts estimates presented in our recent report on Nutritional Supplements in the U.S. Given the decay of all flesh in an aging society and the reassurance of solid scientific support, we forecast the market to reach $15.5 billion by 2017.


For more information on our full report:
http://www.packagedfacts.com/Nutritional-Supplements-Edition-7131106/