St. John’s Wort sales declined 3% to $56 million in consumer sales in the United States in 2007. In 1999, sales were $243 million. What happened, you might ask? To put it simply - alot of bad press is what happened. For years, St. John’s wort couldn’t catch a break, with one negative news story after another eating away at sales at the shelf.

Yahoo! News reports that the Cochrane Review just published a study that finds St. John’s wort effectively treats symptoms of major depression.

To read more, to here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081007/hl_nm/us_depression_stjohnswort_1

The mystery of Coca-Cola’s recipe remains, but Coke has revealed that it’s flagship product is “natural” in an advertising campaign launched in the U.K. The New York Times story, “Campaign Reveals Just a Little Bit of Coke’s Secret Formula“, goes into further detail about this uncloaking, but it appears this move is a market test to see how young consumers react to this new messaging.

If successful, this marketing will mark a significant shift in Coke’s lifestyle and attitude presentation, to one boosting its health credentials.

Clearly, health is no longer viewed as a passing fad by big food & beverage companies, as they experiment with changing the way they position their legacy brands and products.

Consumers aren’t stupid, however, and NBJ expects that the beverage that will help take rust off nails will struggle to be seen as a natural product.

Still, my favorite is the “science” of combining mentos and coca-cola. For anyone that’s attended SupplySide West, you’ll appreciate this video.

I would like to introduce you to the new website for Nutrition Business Journal - www.nutritionbusinessjournal.com.

Alot has changed in the world of web design since we first launched NBJ’s website in 1998, so you will notice MANY changes in the look, feel and efficiency of the new nutritionbusinessjournal.com.

NBJ’s mission has always been to deliver strategic business information, analysis and market data to those in or interested in the nutrition industry to fuel better business decisions and promote healthier lifestyles. The new nutritionbusinessjournal.com is our new way of delivering on this mission.

I welcome your feedback and suggestions, via this blog or via my email prea@nutritionbusiness.com

Enjoy!

-Patrick

More bad news for consumers today. The White House predicts food prices remaining high for the next 2-3 years. In addition, Kraft will hike prices to protect margins and profits, according to CEO Irene Rosenfeld.

The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) found that consumers are spending less at fast casual restaurants and having more of their meals at home or picking up food in the prepared food aisle of restaurants like Publix and Whole Foods Market. 71% of 2,020 respondents to an FMI survey said they were cooking at home more and eating out less. Food industry analysts expect frozen dinners and other frozen prepared foods to see growth in 2008.

This may also drive consumers to fresh foods - meat, seafood, chicken, pork and fruits and vegetables - as some in the natural products industry are suggesting.

Stay tuned!

-Patrick

Yes, this sounds cruel, but it really isn’t my idea. Leave it up to the managers at Frito-Lay to figure out how to save money, short-change consumers and (inadvertently) introduce a new way to fight U.S. obesity.

The Dallas News reported that Frito-Lay will hike prices and decrease the weight of their snack packages.

The culprit is well known - high prices for commodities such as corn, cooking oil and the fuel to deliver products to retailers.

After reading this story, it occurred to me that the U.S. recession may help cure the U.S. obesity problem if more companies follow Frito-Lay’s lead. By protecting the health of the bottom line, Frito-Lay may in fact decrease the size of the nation’s waist line.

The actual story here is how cheap food has become over the years. I’ve heard many noted authors including Marion Nestle and Michael Pollan comment on how cheap food has become in the United States. Perhaps this recession will reset more than all the defaulted subprime mortgages.

Earlier in the week Frito-Lay’s parent company Pepsico reported 4.7% growth in quarterly income and 13.4% growth in revenue. At least someone is working to stay fat.

-Patrick