The U.S. Market for Herbal Supplements

Countries covered: United States

 

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This report from Packaged Facts covers the fast-growing herbal supplements market, including the latest trends in retail dynamics, new product introductions, market size and growth, and comprehensive profiles of today's major competitors and innovative players. Packed with up-to-the-minute facts through 1998 and forecasts through 2003, this study also examines current distribution and retail trends, consumer attitudes and product purchasing patterns, along with many other exciting facts influencing this industry's tremendous growth.

Additional Information

Market Parameters This report covers herbal supplements used for nutritional or medicinal purposes and sold at retail primarily through health and natural product stores, mass merchandisers, drugstores, supermarkets, direct selling, and mail order or Internet. It also covers herbal teas if they are sold for medicinal uses. The report also does not cover herbal products sold at the institutional or professional health-care level or bulk herbs.

The report does not cover vitamins and minerals; supplements derived from non-plant sources such as shark cartilage, red yeast, or glandulars; nutraceuticals or functional foods; culinary herbs sold as food ingredients; homeopathic products; aromatherapy products; nor most sports nutritionals. Note, however, that sports products with a signifi-cant competitive overlap in the herbal market, such as ginseng, are covered by this re-port.

Report Methodology

The information contained in this report was obtained from both primary and sec-ondary research. Primary research entailed in-depth, on-site examinations of health and natural product stores, mass merchandisers, drugstores, and food stores, and information from the March 1999 Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California. Extensive company interviews were conducted to obtain information on regulatory issues, market-ing programs, and new products pertaining to the herbal supplement market, and health and natural product retailers were interviewed to gain product trend information.

Secondary research entailed data-gathering from relevant sources. Included were consumer and industry publications, newspapers, government reports, financial reports, company literature, and annual reports. Revenues and revenue growth rates are based on secondary research confirmed through primary interviews with professional organiza-tions, trade publications, and major players in the market.

Because a large share of herbal supplement sales occurs in health and natural product stores, which are not monitored by tracking services, total retail sales of herbal supplement products were estimated for this report. For the health and natural product sector, Packaged Facts has relied on data published by four trade magazines—Health Foods Business, Natural Foods Merchandiser, Vitamin Retailer, and Whole Foods—supplemented by interviews with marketers and other trade sources. For the mass-market sector, Packaged Facts derived figures from data from Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) and A.C. Nielsen, as reported in various trade publications.

The consumer demographic information in this report is based on data compiled by Simmons Market Research Bureau, New York, New York. Each year Simmons sur-veys a large sample of consumers about their buying habits; the spring 1998 data cited here is based on a sample of 21,594 adults. Simmons has access to complete demo-graphic information about these consumers, who are selected to represent a statistically accurate cross-section of the U.S. population.