NMI reports 2009 Health and Wellness Industry Sales at $125 Billion
May 31st, 2010
Natural Marketing Institute (NMI) announced that retail sales within the U.S. consumer packaged goods health and wellness industry reached almost $125 billion in 2009, representing an overall growth of 5% over the previous year. This figure includes sales across all retail and direct-to-consumer channels for the six categories detailed below. These findings are part of NMI’s annual Health & Wellness Trends Database (HWTD) research study, conducted in Q4 of 2009 among 5,607 U.S. households.
While functional/fortified foods and beverages continue to represent the largest portion of sales, this category had the smallest growth rate (only 2%) over 2008. The majority of other categories also saw growth rates in the single digits ranging from 5% to 8%. The notable exception was the natural/organic general merchandise category, which for the second year in a row, exhibited double-digit growth. This category, which includes pet products, clothing and household cleaning products, grew by 15%. The proliferation of these products in mainstream shopping channels was likely a major factor that contributed to this growth.
Based on consumer spending by product segment, consumer penetration/usage trends, and projected data, industry retail dollars in billions for 2009 (and growth versus 2008) are as follows:
Functional/Fortified Foods & Beverages: $41 (2%)
Vitamins, Minerals, Herbal & Dietary Supplements: $25 (8%)
Organic Foods/Beverages: $25 (5%)
Natural Foods/Beverages: $15 (5%)
Natural/Organic Personal Care: $10 (8%)
Natural/Organic General Merchandise: $9 (15%)
According to NMI President Maryellen Molyneaux, “The economic crisis has affected consumer shopping for health and wellness. Many have changed what, where and how they buy. These changes are not short term but are lifestyle changes that could impact the industry into the future. Based on our research and analysis, NMI projects that the health and wellness industry will grow at a rate of approximately 3% to 15% across various categories in 2010.”
More information can be found in NMI’s upcoming 11th Edition Health & Wellness Trends Report.
I am a bit confused. I had heard of Health and Wellness Sales being a 170 Billion number. Is that a Global number, or if not, what is the US, North America, and Global numbers?
Maybe the $170 Billion includes other catagories that have not been included in the $125 Billion referred to in this report.
Please help me to better understand the size of the Market and trends associated with Health and Wellness.
Thank you, Mike Rettinger.
Mike,
Depending on the researcher, the numbers obviously can vary. NMI is addressing the US consumer packaged goods – that does not include whole and fresh foods.
Another example is a report just released by Nutrition Business Journal which shows that “in 2009, the total U.S. food market grew 1.6%, reaching $628 billion in sales, while healthy foods grew 1.8% to reach $143 billion in sales.”
Nutrition Business Journal includes four product categories in the healthy food market: organic, natural, functional and lesser-evil foods. Market-standard and conventional foods make up an additional, catch-all category for the total foods results. Read about their report here: http://foodceo.com/articles/2010/06/summary-2010-healthy-foods-report-nutrition-business-journal/
Natural Foods Merchandiser – yet another data source – in its June Market Overview reports sustained growth for the natural and organic products industry. With more than $76 billion in total revenues last year, the industry grew 4.8 percent from 2008, despite an economy that saw many consumer-spending categories decline.
Included in the research are gluten-free food sales, dietary supplements, and categories like digestive health, heart health, and immunity.
Unfortunately, the answer is – it depends.
For your research you might want to pick the research firm that seems to be covering the areas of interest to you, and stick with them year after year. If you follow the same set of numbers rather than trying to compare two different sets, you will be better able to track trends.
Gail Nickel-Kailing
Managing Editor, Food CEO
This is the trend of the present and the future .