New Study from NMI Reports 2004 Health & Wellness Industry Sales at $68 Billion

Retail sales within the consumer packaged goods health and wellness industry reached $68 billion in 2004, according to findings from the Natural Marketing Institute's annual research study of 2,000-plus U.S. consumer households.

The latest data from NMI, which will be published in March 2005 in NMI's 2005 "Health and Wellness Trends Report," constitute a total growth of 8.5 percent over 2003.

NMI Managing Partner Steve French states, “Despite recent economic challenges, consumer spending last year in the health and wellness industry continued to rise. We project this trend to continue with sales reaching more than $73 billion in 2005.”

Sales of packaged organic foods and beverages soared 18 percent in the last year and have now reached $10.9 billion – up 18 percent from $9.2 billion in 2003. This performance narrows the gap with natural foods and beverages, which retained a small advantage with sales of $11.3 billion but grew just 4 percent over the period.

Functional and fortified foods and beverages remain the top category of packaged consumer health and wellness goods, reaching sales of $23.4 billion in 2004 (7 percent up on $21.8 billion in 2003) and accounting for 34 percent of the industry.

Sales of vitamin, minerals, herbal and dietary supplements rose 6 percent in the year to $19 billion.

The entire consumer packaged health and wellness industry, which also includes personal care, was worth $68.6 billion in 2004, compared to $63.2 billion last year, according to NMI.

According to NMI President Maryellen Molyneaux, “The 2004 data represent a 7.6% overall compound annual growth since 2001. In addition, the positive and negative changes in consumer attitudes and behavior present both opportunities and challenges to marketers who want to stay on the cutting edge of developing trends.