How will the supplement industry manage an economic downturn? Industry historians will tell you that in the last few recessions, the supplement industry handled slower consumer spending quite well. But is recent economic history a good comparable for how the current supplement industry will handle the foreseeable future? Is it the same supplement industry that it was before?

This critical question is exactly what the 2008 Supplement Business Report addresses with over 400 charts of data and 160 large and small supplement company profiles. Forecasts through 2017 are also included based on most recently available research, so you can chart your company’s growth against our experienced expectations for the industry.

Certainly, 2008 has been a good year for the U.S. supplement industry. Both IRI and SPINS data show solid growth in multivitamins, but a resurgence in herbs and vitamin D sales may drive growth for the overall supplement industry higher than achieved in 2007 (5.9% to $23.7 billion in consumer sales).

But how long will this last? Will private label grow its marketshare in ways we’re seeing it do in organic food? What about consumer pricing? Will prices decline as expected? And what about suppliers, how will they manage through rising ingredient costs, transportation costs and bad debt from customers?

Walking the show floor at Expo East and Supply Side West, one thing was clear. There is confidence that the primary demographic and self-care drivers of the nutrition and supplement industry position it better than most to weather a recession. However, when I asked executives, “Is your business feeling any impact from the economic downturn?” the quick answer was, “No.” But when I probed further and asked about bad debt, late payments and a slowdown in product development - they all confirmed one or all.

So is there a bit of schizophrenia in the U.S. nutrition industry? I feel there is. And if there wasn’t, I would be more concerned. One thing is certain, staying on top of industry trends is what Nutrition Business Journal has made its only business since 1996 and will continue to make its primary business through to the other side of this recession. So if you have any questions about what’s going on in any product segment or sales channel in the nutrition industry, don’t hesitate to call. 303.998.9229 If I don’t have the answer, I’ll find someone that does for you.

All the best,

Patrick Rea

Editorial Director

Nutrition Business Journal

26,000 people attended Natural Products Expo East in Boston last proving the effects of the troubled economy have yet to be painfully felt in the natural products industry. Though time will tell how the nutrition industry manages through this economic downturn, some companies are still doing well. Case in point, large conventional food manufacturers are outpreforming the market with growing sales and profits. General Mills, Campbell Soup and Kraft are just a few CPG firms that have found a way to profitably manage price increases, commodity price increases and changes in consumer shopping behavior.

Servicing the needs of the food industry, the Healthy Foods Conference was held on October 14th and 15th in Boston, MA, just prior to the start of Natural Products Expo East. About 100 executives in the healthy food and ingredient supply market attended the event, which delivered on its aim to bring together though leaders in the supply and manufacture of healthy foods (natural/organic, functional and lesser evil) in the U.S.

Tuesday’s “Delicious Predictions for 2010″ session was particularly notable.

Keynote Jeremy Gutsche of TrendHunter.com laid out a compelling new way to approach innovation and product development, utilizing his experience in online media and how new products capture the attention of various audiences in today’s cluttered media landscape.

Jeremy challenged all in attendance to rethink innovation for today’s online population based on his studies and experiences as the head of TrendHunter.com, challenging the attendees in the audience to a number of “team” challenges.

Jeff Grorr defended Kellogg’s acquisition of Kashi, noting that since the acquisition, Kellogg hasn’t reformulated any of the Kashi products for health reasons. He also thought there was a future for branded ingredients, but at this time, the consumer brands hold more value than the ingredient brands and thus don’t add much incremental value in consumer marketing. Jeff also noted that “the tide” is moving towards healthy foods, in that that the greater populations IS moving towards health and as an industry we need to keep our standards high and hold each other accountable to acceptable standards so not to undermine the growing consumer healthy food opportunity.

Robin Roderick of Ocean Spray noted the special needs of the aging and growing population of baby boomers over 65, detailing the low level of healthy food education and high needs for nutritionally rich products.

Laryn Calloway of Organic Bistro explained that the average American has the equivalent of a 6th grade education when it comes to nutrition. Laryn’s original mission was to reach unhealthy consumers by making her products “cool” and make it cool to eat well. There’s no magic bullet for wellness, she said, but a whole suite of life changes.

Wednesday’s sessions were also very informative, but as a nutrition industry researcher, the “Delicious Predictions for 2010″ was excellent.

-Patrick