FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Nancy White
The Natural Marketing Institute
215.513.7300 ext. 225
Nancy.White@NMIsolutions.com

Nutritional Supplements: Can New Science and News Claims Revitalize the Category?

Harleysville, Pa. (October 2005) The Natural Marketing Institute (NMI), the leading provider of strategic consulting, consumer insights and market research services across various health and wellness industries, today expanded on one of the trends it has identified as having a significant impact on the health and wellness marketplace. This trend is seventh in the series of NMI's Top Ten Trends of 2005.

Trend #7: Nutritional Supplements: Can New Science and New Claims Revitalize the Category?

According to NMI's 2004 Health & Wellness Trends Database™ (HWTD), the challenges of the nutritional supplement market are being manifested by the growth of condition-specific supplements with a blurring of the lines with traditional over-the-counter medications.

While some product categories, such as vitamins and minerals within the supplement industry, show usage stagnation, condition-specific supplements are showing the highest growth. According to NMI Managing Partner Steve French, "Condition-specific supplements – products designed and marketed based on the prevention or management of particular health issues – have shown a 5-year compound annual growth of 9%. That's more than double the growth of the supplement industry. This reflects consumers' desire to self-treat their conditions and to provide adjunct support to prescription drugs."

NMI's data on supplement attitudes and behaviors within the general population also yielded the following results:

• 70% believe that taking a vitamin/mineral every day is important to health
• 69% believe vitamins/minerals are effective in prevention
• 62% believe vitamin/minerals are effective in treatment
• 44% prefer to buy vitamins/minerals, herbs and dietary supplements that have a specific health claim

One area that has shown significant decline over the past five years is the impact of clinical research on purchase decisions and the believability of supplement claims. "NMI's 2004 data indicates that 64% of consumers say they prefer to purchase supplements with proven clinical effectiveness, down from 80% in 2000. And, the impact of clinical research on the believability of a claim decreased from 79% in 2000 to 58%. The decreases of 25% and 36% respectively, indicate increased barriers as consumers desire more tangible, immediate benefits. In addition, it reflects the confusion created by vacillating media reports – good one day, bad the next," states French.

NMI's 2005 Health & Wellness Trends Report™ (HWTR) includes an entire chapter devoted to dietary supplements as well as a chapter that explores consumers' attitudes and behaviors in regard to the use of Rx vs. over the counter vs. food and supplements in treatments of specific conditions. To review a table of contents or to order the report, please visit: http://www.nmisolutions.com/r_hwt_toc.html.

NMI's Health & Wellness Trends Database™ (HWTD) and other proprietary data sources, including the new Supplements/OTC/Rx Database (SORD), can provide a wealth of insight for companies in the health and wellness marketplace. For more information on the HWTD, SORD or NMI's other consumer databases, contact NMI or visit our website at http://www.nmisolutions.com/tools.html.

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NMI is a strategic consulting, market research, and business development company specializing in the health, wellness, and sustainable marketplace. For more information on NMI's trend reports, proprietary databases and other services, visit NMI's web site at www.NMIsolutions.com.

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