In this Issue


The overall weight-loss/nutritional shake category spans ready-to-drink diet aids (Slim Fast), pediatric nutrition needs (PediaSure) and adult nutrition needs (Ensure and Boost). Out of all of these, it’s adult nutrition that creates the most synergy with the backbench; seniors need protein and supplementation to ensure a healthy life free of broken hips and fractured elbows. But that isn’t the only prescription-heavy demographic checking out the latest Ensure and Boost flavors.

In the year leading up to the switch of Allegra, Sanofi generated $214.2 million in U.S. prescription sales of Allegra, largely due to the generic competition against its Allegra D formulation. Now Sanofi is looking to virtually match those annual sales figures within the much more profitable nonprescription venue with the company’s successful switch from prescription to OTC this spring. 


Couponing is digitizing.


Although printed circulars remain the workhorse of the nation’s coupon distribution system, a growing share of the coupons consumers are handing cashiers are emerging from online distribution sources and are being printed out at home. A smaller but growing segment also is being handled exclusively through electronic means via smartphones and mobile technology.


It’s like if KITT, the talking car on the 80s TV hit “Knight Rider,” consulted Hasselhoff about his excessive drinking while the two used advanced automotive and information-based technology to fight crime — and improve health outcomes.

Consumers’ desire for convenient, value-added solutions — not to mention their battle with more oral care issues as they age or take certain prescribed medications — likely has been the catalyst for the strong growth in 
portable oral care products.



The snack is back! Judging from the amount of growth within the 
nutritional bar category in the past year, snacking is definitely en vogue. 
Incremental annual sales totaled $117.5 million across food, drug and mass retailers, with the exception of Walmart, according to SymphonyIRI Group. Out of all over-the-counter growth categories for the 52 weeks ended April 17, nutritional bars as a category took in more dollars on top of what they had generated the year before than any other category, bar none. 



Good things come in three — like the three antacids that for the 52 weeks ended April 17 collectively generated more than $118 million in sales on top of the sales base they had established in the year-ago period.


Who’s clipping coupons? Ironically, coupon redemptions in the wake of the Great Recession are heaviest among higher-income, better-
educated Americans, researchers reported.


“With the value offered by coupons, one might think that the lowest income households would be among the heaviest users,” noted The Nielsen Co. “In fact, more affluent households dominate coupon usage.”