PANADOL EXTENDED WITH NATURAL PAIN RELIEF

AUSTRALIA: Using plant-based active ingredients, Haleon’s PanaNatra tablets and soft capsules — now available in Australia – have been created to ease and manage mild muscle, joint and general pain. The line-up has three options, featuring patented ingredients to elevate the brand’s scientific credentials: 

• PanaNatra Joint Pain Relief, formulated with Curcumin C3 Complex (a patented curcumin combination), Apresflex (a blend of boswellia extract enriched with boswellia oil & boswellic acid) and Bioperine (a unique blend of piperine that boosts absorption of curcumin)

• PanaNatra Muscle Pain Relief with Rhuleave-K, a combination of curcuminoids and boswellia 

• PanaNatra Sleep & Pain Relief (Ashwagandha KSM-66) 

Nicholas Hall Writes: My colleague Fiona Cooper, a staff writer at Insight Asia-Pacific, reminds me that investment in naturals was listed as part of Haleon’s growth strategy in its spin-off prospectus in mid-2022. While still in its early days as an independent company, as well as being the leading player in consumer health, Haleon has pioneered bridging the medicated and non-medicated gap with line extensions to its famous brands. Recent rollouts include PanaNatural Cough Syrup in UAE, Excedrin Head Care (to support “head health”) in USA, and VoltaNatura (topical analgesic) and FeniNatural (anti-itch) in markets across Europe. The latest launch brings natural options to Panadol, Australia’s No.1 systemic analgesic, by filling the maintenance and prevention gap that remains largely unaddressed within the category. 

Meanwhile, regulatory changes — discussions by the TGA to reduce paracetamol pack sizes, and the upscheduling of modified-release paracetamol in 2020 — make diversification an attractive option locally. These are important developments for Haleon in Australia, the analgesics category and the global consumer healthcare market. In fact, natural, organic and even vegan products are at the cutting edge of our industry.

The CHC industry is truly at a crossroads, with a great deal of uncertainty expected in the years ahead. That uncertainty extends to regulatory, and industry associations around the world keep a watchful eye open to make sure that our best interests are defended at a time when regulators want to erect even higher barriers to prevent side-effects, and in doing so discourage innovation. In that context, I’d like to give a shout-out to the work of the Global Self-Care Federation and its new Chair, Manoj Raghunandanan, and Director-General Judy Stenmark. Here at Nicholas Hall Group, we are highly supportive of the work of GSCF and for several years have sponsored their two interns. Keep up the good work!

Now is your last chance to save up to GB£1,350 when you pre-order the 2023 edition of our Innovation in CHC report, publishing this week! Drawn from CHC New Products Tracker, this report explores the rise of naturals and innovation by marketer, region and country. It showcases 10 major ingredient trends, 5 delivery format trends and 100 key innovations from 2022. For more information, or to pre-order your copy with the pre-publication discount, contact melissa.lee@NicholasHall.com.

US Herbal Sales Enjoy Record Rise

Annual sales of herbal dietary supplements in USA passed US$10bn for the first time in 2020, according to the American Botanical Council’s 2020 Herb Market Report, which is based on US retail sales data provided by SPINS and the Nutrition Business Journal. Consumers spent an estimated US$11.3bn, +17.3% vs 2019. This is more than double the annual growth reported that year and the first time the segment has experienced double-digit growth in at least two decades.

• In mainstream US retail outlets, elderberry was the top-selling herbal supplement ingredient, with sales totalling US$275mn+

• Ashwagandha root had the largest percentage sales growth (+185.2%) in the mainstream channel. Widely used in Ayurveda, the well-known adaptogen is believed to increase the body’s ability to adapt to different forms of stress

^{Source: SPINS (52 weeks ending 27th December 2020)}

• Apple cider vinegar supplements saw strong sales growth in both mainstream and natural retail channels, with those marketed for digestive health and “cleanse and detox” the top focus

• Natural retail outlet shoppers also prioritised fungi supplements, including some marketed for immune and cognitive health such as Chaga, which made its first appearance among the Top 40 in the natural channel ingredients, although human clinical research is lacking

Comment from study co-author Tyler Smith: Consumer trends in herbal supplements have never been more pronounced – the pandemic’s effects on supplement purchases can be seen in almost every data point for 2020. Throughout the year, consumers sought out products commonly used for immune health, stress relief and digestive support, likely in response to pandemic-related stressors. However, sales of products for age-related concerns such as prostate and heart health also grew in 2020, which suggests that consumers were turning to herbal supplements for both acute and chronic conditions.

Now is your final chance to register to join Nicholas and the team next week for our North American e-Conference 2021, reviewing marketing solutions across the region. To register, or for further details, please contact elizabeth.bernos@NicholasHall.com without delay.

Natural & Organic a focus for M&A and innovation

Continuing our series of blogs on the 10 Infinity Zones for future CHC growth recently outlined by Nicholas Hall, in this edition we take a closer look at natural & organic products. This is by no means a new trend, but it’s certainly one increasingly on the radar of multinationals, as exemplified by J&J’s recent purchase of Zarbee’s Naturals.

Among herbal & natural cough remedies, Zarbee’s has been gaining share on rivals such as Little Remedies, Hyland’s and Chestal, while also growing faster than most medicated OTC cough remedies. Another growth driver in the US market is Maty’s all-natural and organic range, including honey-based cough remedies, while Unilever recently bought Olly Nutrition, another range of VMS products with a strong emphasis on natural ingredients, such as the 10 phytonutrients in its Super Foods Multi line.

A+P for most herbal & natural products often emphasises the importance of quality standards and – increasingly – organic and responsibly-­sourced ingredients. In China, the No.1 probiotic brand Biostime (Health & Happiness for Institut Rosell) is promoted on the basis of the organic sourcing of its ingredients, while marketing involving brand ambassador Juliette Binoche also emphasises the natural heritage of the brand.

According to OTC New Products Tracker, the number of launches that include the word “organic” either in their branding or list of ingredients is growing fast, with 246 innovations in 2018 vs 168 in 2017 and just 81 in 2016. Over half of these products are unsurprisingly classified as vitamins, minerals & supplements, however there is also a growing number of “organic” Lifestyle OTCs, especially among medical cannabis products, sedatives & sleep aids and stimulants.

Last chance to pre-order Nicholas Hall’s New Paradigms for CHC 2019: Over the Horizon, written by Nicholas himself! Examine each aspect of the CHC industry in 20 chapters, with a focus on major issues including Regulation, Pharmacy Point-of-Care, M&A, Switch and much more. Nicholas will also unveil the “infinity zones” he has identified as being crucial to the future growth of the industry. In addition to this, you can upgrade your purchase to include a customised in-house presentation or webinar with Nicholas for an additional GB£10,000. To find out more or to place your order, please contact melissa.lee@NicholasHall.com.

10 Infinity Zones for future CHC growth

Nicholas Hall’s New Paradigms for CHC report, due to be published later this year, outlines 10 Infinity Zones for future consumer healthcare growth, which were shared as an exclusive preview with delegates at our recent Vienna conference. Below we outline these Infinity Zones to OTC DASHBOARD subscribers, with a short description of each.

1. Prevention: A long-term theme in the CHC industry which is now taking root. Nicholas Hall presented a slide of the fastest-growing OTC subcategories by CAGR (2014-18), comparing those focused on prevention with those centred around treatment, and this showed that seven of the Top 10 most dynamic subcategories had a preventative focus.

2. Probiotics: One of these Top 10 fastest-growing subcategories was probiotics, an area of the global consumer healthcare market that has moved from adjacency into the mainstream. In the 2014-18 period, probiotics delivered more value growth (in €mn terms) than established subcategories like systemic analgesics and sore throat remedies.

3. Food Intolerance: Changing diets across the globe are causing a huge increase in food intolerance issues. Nicholas Hall is planning to provide an estimate of the size of this emerging category in his New Paradigms report, but for now he emphasised to delegates the opportunities that OTC marketers have here, notably in terms of cross-branding.

4. Natural & Organic: Like prevention, this is not a new trend in consumer healthcare, but instead one that is increasingly on the radar of major multinationals. A recent example here is J&J’s acquisition of the Zarbee’s Naturals line of OTC products.

5. Cannabis: Nicholas Hall outlined the huge investment already being seen in this fast-growing market, especially in key countries like Australia, and outlined how the future CBD market could be split into five categories, including Rx, OTC medical cannabis via Rx-to-OTC switch, VMS & topicals, beauty & food and lifestyle marijuana.

6. Sexual Health: Nicholas Hall said that, while Bayer has made it clear that erectile dysfunction treatment Levitra will not switch, we’ve already seen the Rx-to-OTC reclassification of Viagra Connect in the UK market and it’s possible that Sanofi’s Cialis could soon follow once the company has navigated the necessary regulatory hurdles.

7. E-commerce: This year DB6 has introduced an “all channels” version of the dataset, showing that total OTC sales through all channels were worth US$174bn in 2018, of which store-based sales account for 78%, with direct sales (MLM) generating 14%. Internet & mail order currently accounts for 9% of the “all channel” universe, with sales dominated heavily by VMS supplements in China and USA. However, this channel has seen a CAGR of 20% since 2014 and will continue to increase dramatically in importance.

8. Pharmacy: Nicholas Hall also emphasised the continuing importance of bricks & mortar retailers to consumer healthcare, with Pharmacy Point-of-Care still the driving force behind recommendations and purchases of key OTC brands.

9. Big Data: The Big 5 tech companies are now dominating healthcare information, and while there are concerns about privacy, Apple CEO Tim Cook has stated that his company’s “greatest contribution to mankind” will be within the sphere of healthcare.

10. Emerging Markets: Nicholas Hall said that Emerging Markets now account for a 55% share of global OTC sales (in the retail channel). Recent figures from the IMF’s World Economic Outlook forecast that developing economies will continue to outpace advanced economies.

Take a look at what the future holds for the CHC industry in our upcoming Signature report, Nicholas Hall’s New Paradigms for CHC 2019: Over the Horizon, written by Nicholas himself. The report will take a look at major issues including innovation, future competition, emerging categories and markets and M&A. You also have the option to upgrade your purchase to include a customised in-house presentation or webinar with Nicholas. To find out more or to place your order, please contact melissa.lee@NicholasHall.com.