Science, natural solutions boost probiotic sales

Probiotics is another large-scale source of growth for the vitamins, minerals and supplements category, having realized a 33% rate of growth, or an increase in sales of $121 million in the last year, noted Doug Jones, Pharmavite spokesman.

(For the full category review, including sales data, click here.)

The growth in probiotics has been powered by emerging science, said Michael Petschek, marketing director for i-Health — not only with regard to digestive health, but also immunity health. “Household penetration [of the probiotic supplement category] has grown rapidly. It’s about 10% of the population now. Just for perspective, two or three years ago it was only 3.5%,” he said.

In addition to digestive health and immunity health, the Winning Combination recently launched a probiotic targeting cholesterol health. “Consumers are driving the growth in probiotics because they are increasingly looking for more natural solutions to help manage their health,” said Shazad Bukhari, COO of the Winning Combination. “In a Strategic Intent survey conducted among 677 supplement users, 75% indicated they would prefer a more natural way to lower cholesterol. Cardioviva is the first natural probiotic that has been shown in peer-reviewed and published clinical trials to help maintain healthy cholesterol levels in adults.”

The Winning Combination’s Cardioviva recently partnered with the National Volunteer Fire Council and its Heart Healthy Firefighter Program to promote cholesterol management — heart attacks account for more than half of on-duty firefighter deaths. In support of this, Cardioviva conducted cholesterol screenings and nutrition and lifestyle education at regional and national fire service and EMS events throughout the past year.