Convenience, taste keep gummies on top

As a format, adult gummy vitamins continue to trend well. The adult gummy segment grew by 23% in the first quarter of 2016, significantly outpacing the kids gummy section that dropped by 8% in sales over the same period, according to Matthew Farrell, president and CEO for Church & Dwight.

(Click here to view the full ECRM OTC Report.)



Overall, sales of gummy formulations across both adults and kids were up 15%, he said.



“Our research, along with our interactions with Centrum consumers, shows the gummy form of multivitamin is a convenient and great-tasting preference for adults,” noted Brett Henige, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare, brand manager for Centrum MultiGummies. “Gummy form multivitamins have broad consumer appeal, which is confirmed by ... sales results,” he said. “Consumers want accessible forms that are great tasting and easy to take.”



“One of the key trends is taste,” added Derek Bowen, chief marketing officer at NBYT. “We see that clearly in gummies. It’s not just about the stuff that’s inside; it’s about the total experience.”



“The kids gummy section has been trending down for more than just this quarter, for a while,” he said. “And the speculation around that is that, once upon a time, before the advent of adult gummies, adults took kids gummies, and that with a lot of adult gummies now coming on shelf, adults are using the adult gummies and not the kids,” he said.



Still, that means there is still plenty of upside in adult gummies, he noted. “Adult gummies is where we are putting our focus as it is underdeveloped, and it will be the source of future growth for us,” he told analysts in May.



Pharmavite earlier this year became the first company to market vitamin gummies with a United States Pharmacopeia-Verified Mark for its Nature Made line, adding credibility to an already popular product. “Since these were the first gummy supplements that USP has verified, USP worked closely with its scientific experts to develop and implement new quality tests specifically for this unique dosage form,” said John Atwater, senior director of USP’s verification programs.