New Feature

Herbal supplement sales
increase in US market

Sales of herbal and botanical dietary supplements in the United States rose slightly in some market channels in 2008, according to data gathered from market research firms. Information Resources Inc. (IRI) found steady growth of herbal supplement sales in the mainstream market channel,1 and SPINS has reported that botanical supplement sales remained relatively stable in the health and natural food stores sector.2 Nutrition Business Journal, meanwhile, has pooled various primary and secondary data sources and determined that total estimated herb sales in the US market rose by 0.9% in 2008 (see Table 1).

Herbal dietary supplements are sold in the United States through a variety of market channels, including health and natural food stores; food, drug, and mass market (FDM) retailers; warehouse and convenience stores; mail order, radio and television direct sales; Internet sales; network or multi-level marketing (MLM) companies; health professionals in their offices (e.g. acupuncturists, chiropractors, naturopaths, some conventional physicians); and other channels. While market data companies are able to generate relatively accurate data of herbal dietary supplement sales for some market channels through cash register and computer scanning records, most channels do not have such tracking capabilities and are estimated with a lesser degree of accuracy. However, by pooling various sources of available data and modeling the remaining multi-channel firms, NBJ has arrived at a total estimated figure for all US herbal dietary supplement sales in 2008 of $4,800,000,000.

According to data supplied by IRI of Chicago, Illinois, sales of herbal dietary supplements in the FDM channel increased by 7.16% in 2008 from 2007 sales, for a total figure of $289,248,200.1 However, the IRI data does not represent the entire FDM channel, as it does not include sales reports from Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, and other large warehouse buying clubs, or from convenience stores. Based on data from a SPINSscan consumer report driven by Nielsen Homescan's panel of 125,000 households, the market information firm SPINS of Schaumburg, Illinois, has estimated that Wal-Mart probably accounts for less than 9% of all herbal supplement sales in the United States.

Previous statistics from IRI found that sales of herbal supplements increased for the first time in the FDM channel in 2007, after showing steady decreases for several years.3 This year's IRI data shows a continuing trend toward increased consumer purchasing of herbal supplements from mainstream market retailers.1 The 20 top-selling single herbal dietary supplements within the FDM channel, as determined by IRI, are listed in Table 2.

About the Author:

Courtney Cavaliere,
Patrick Rea,
Mary Ellen Lynch and
Mark Blumenthal