Commentary From Our Chairman / CEO
Change and the Top Supermarket Trends in 2014
Michael D. Sleeper, Chief Executive Officer, Imperial Distributors, Inc.
With the growing expectations of living a longer life, and increased interest in keeping fit and healthy, it is no surprise that the fastest growing HBC categories are nutrition/energy bars and vitamins. Our industry forecasts show strong growth and increased market share in food stores.
Healthier lifestyles and better tasting products have helped increase sales of nutrition and energy bars in the US by over 70% between 2006 and 2012. Sales for this category have reached over a billion dollars with double digit year over year growth.
Nutrition bars can be broken down into three segments:
- Health and Wellness Bars: primarily used as a healthy snack alternative.
- Sport Bars: fill the protein and energy needs of athletes.
- Diet Bars: designed for diet and weight loss.
Health and Wellness is the largest segment with 45% of nutrition bar sales, followed by sports bars at 37% and diet bars at 18% in supermarkets.
Retailers devote from 4′ to 24′ of space with assortments from the three key segments in the category. By merchandising nutrition bars at check-outs and cross merchandising in snack aisles, retailers not only support healthier shopper’s lifestyles but also take advantage of one of the most profitable growth categories in HBC.
Along with increased consumer demand in nutrition bars, is the continued growth of the vitamin and supplement category. Vitamins and nutritional supplements are now over a $30 billion dollar business.
As the population continues to age, “condition-specific” formulations are showing big sales increases. Today there are vitamins which help reduce cholesterol, osteoarthritis and joint pain. Cardiovascular health products, multi-purpose and children’s vitamins are all showing double digit increases.
The supplement category not only includes weight loss but also sports nutrition products for muscle and strength building, led by the protein supplements.
According to GMDC research, today’s consumer spends anywhere between $60 and $300 per month on deliberate health and wellness purchases. This shopper is looking for an experience that links the fresh departments on the perimeter to the HBC and Grocery departments in center store for a complete wellness experience. In HBC, the nutrition and vitamin categories are one of the key drivers for this shopper.
To increase the focus on health and wellness in your HBC department, the best place to start is with a broader product mix in the nutrition and vitamin categories. It’s the fastest growing category in the center store and worthy of expanded space.
For comments or questions, contact us by phone at 508-756-5156, or e-mail: msleeper@imperialdistributors.com