Still weighed down somewhat by the cumulative effects of bad press and waning consumer confidence, growth in the natural health category last year was buoyed by a spike in multivitamin sales.

Certainly, ephedra has kept the herbal category in the papers. And while the coverage has been less than flattering, as Drug Store News has suggested, the shakeup, in particular, the actions taken by the Food and Drug Administration and Department of Health and Human Services, could wind up being a positive for the business. It would be at least some sign to consumers that natural health isn't exactly the Wild West and that someone is actually looking out for their safety. The perception that the natural health business is a wholly unregulated industry has cost the dietary supplement category plenty of money in the last few years.

In the meantime, retailers will need to accentuate the positives, and there are still a few strong pockets of business in the category to focus on:

* Multivitamins received a strong plug from the Journal of the American Medical Association in July, when it published a study showing all Americans should take a multivitamin daily.

* Sales of natural alternatives to hormone replacement therapy also received a jolt last year with news that HRT may increase the risk of heart disease and breast cancer. Sales of black cohosh supplements increased 32.5 percent last year to $7.3 million and soy was up 7.6 percent to $15.8 million. Some notables here included Amerifit's Estroven, up 10 percent in 2002, reaching sales of $6.6 million in drug stores and GlaxoSmithKline's Remifemin, which finished the year up 62.1 percent to $5.1 million.

TOP 15 NATURAL HEALTH CARE SEGMENTS IN DRUG

                                                   $       %
Brand/segment                                   sales *  change

Glucosamine & Chandraitin - herbal supplements   $169.5    0.8%
Calcium minerals                                  160.7    9.4
Adult multivitamin - multivitamins                289.0   11.3
Vitamin E - letter vitamins                       103.4   -7.8
Vitamin C - letter vitamins                        64.5   -5.3
Vitamin B - letter vitamins                        43.6   13.1
Iran - minerals                                    39.2    4.7
Vitamin B-complex - letter vitamins                38.0    8.3
Children's multivitamin - multivitamins            31.9    3.6
Co-Q10 enzyme - can-herbal supplements             22.6   12.1
Garlic - herbal supplements                        18.7    1.4
Ginkgo Biloba - herbal supplements                 17.6  -27.6
Echinacea - herbal supplements                     17.0  -18.4
Soy - herbal supplements                           15.8    7.6
Saw Pulrnetto - herbal supplements                 14.8   -5.3

Source: Information Resources Inc. for 52 weeks ended Jan. 5

* Sales in millions

TOP 10 NATURAL HELATH GAINERS IN DRUG

                                            $        %         $
Brand/segment                            sales *  change *  sales *

Bausch & Lomb Ocuvite - multivitomins     $16.5     88.0%    $7.7
Centrum - multivitamins                    51.2     11.6      5.3
Flex-a-Mi - non-herbal supplements          9.7     80.4      4.3
Natures Bounty - non-herbal supplements    23.3     18.7      3.7
Sundown - letter vitamins                  13.4     35.1      3.5
Sundown - non-herbal supplements           11.9     39.1      3.3
Caltrote 600 Plus - minerals                4.7    169.4      2.9
Natures Resource - herbol supplements      25.6     11.3      2.6
Nature Made - letter vitamins              60.0      3.8      2.2
Remifemin herbal supplements                5.1     62.1      1.9

Source: Information Resources Inc. for 52 weeks ended Jan. 5

* Sales in millions

NATURAL HEALTH SCORECARD

                            Total F/D/M *              Drug stores

Category/                  $        % chg.         $        % chg.
segment                 sales **  vs. yr. ago   sales **  vs. yr. ago

Multivitamins            $688.9      0.1%        $339.4      0.1%
Non-herbal supplements    500.8      0.1          311.0      0.1
Letter vitamins           482.4      0.0          262.0      0.0
Mineral suppl             403.7      0.1          237.7      0.1
Herbal supplements        293.4     -0.1          161.3     -0.1

                             Drug chains only

Category/                  $           % chg.
segment                 sales **    vs. yr. ago +

Multivitamins              NA            NA
Non-herbal supplements     NA            NA
Letter vitamins            NA            NA
Mineral suppl              NA            NA
Herbal supplements         NA            NA

Source: Information Resources Inc. for 52 weeks ended Jan. 5

* Sales in millions

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COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group