Is the Economy Hurting Sports Nutrition and Weight Loss Sales?
Overall, U.S. dietary supplement sales — which grew 6.2% to $25.2 billion in 2008 — are actually benefiting from the down economy, as consumers focus on disease prevention and less-expensive alternatives to pricy doctor visits and prescription drugs. This halo effect, however, does not appear to be extending to the general sports nutrition & weight-loss (SNWL) category, which experienced overall sluggish sales growth in 2008. Still, most companies in this category are seeing only a moderate effect from the economic downturn. In Nutrition Business Journal’s survey of SNWL companies, 43% of survey respondents rated the effect of the global economic downturn on the sales of their SNWL products as “critical,” “very important” or “important,” while 31% called it “fairly important” and 26% said it was “not important.” Said one survey participant, “We have seen a mild decline however we have combated this with aggressive marketing.” Some SNWL companies NBJ…
