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09.13.2011

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In the News: Hartman Wellness Insights in Nutraceutical World Magazine

Hartman Group findings from our Reimagining Health + Wellness 2011 report is at the heart of the cover feature of the September issue of Nutraceutical World magazine. The “Up and Coming Markets” feature illustrates how consumers’ wellness behaviors are dictating the direction of the market for supplements, functional foods and beverages and natural remedies. Following is an excerpt from the Nutraceutical World magazine feature article.

Up & Coming Markets: Mining the Mega Market Re-Direction

It’s anything but business as usual in the market these days, so understanding the new rules, roles and market boundaries consumers are imposing on supplements, functional foods/beverages and natural remedies will be the key to future success.

By Dr. A. Elizabeth Sloan President, Sloan Trends Inc.

(Published September 1, 2011)

Although seven in 10 (69%) U.S. adults are actively working to improve their physical health and half (52%) are trying to incorporate wellness goals/concerns into their daily routines—per Packaged Facts “2011 Consumer Insights Study”—new mega trends toward “naturally functional/inherent goodness,” heightened FDA, FTC and EU claim scrutiny and concern over the effectiveness and safety of some supplements (even among core users) are re-setting market priorities and product criteria for good.

According to the Hartman Group’s “2010 Reimagining Health & Nutrition Study,” ethnographically, supplement use appears to be waning—especially among core users; but all is not lost yet. While core users report limiting the number of supplements they take daily due to pervasive doubts about bioavailability, a belief that nutrients in food are best and concern over the long-term effects of supplementation on digestion, they continue to use them—rather than over-the-counter (OTC) and Rx medications—to treat/manage health conditions.

Although consumers are using food as a preventative, proactive way to deal with health conditions, it’s not simply about a shift to food and natural nutrients. According to Hartman, “once it’s too late,” food becomes relegated to a secondary wellness tool, although it is still considered essential to treating the issue longer term.

A New Attitude
Several years of a tough economy and the U.S. healthcare crisis have finally forced consumers to embrace healthy/preventative behaviors as a necessary cost-saving measure longer term—a new and powerful motivator. SymphonyIRI (IRI) reports that 81% of shoppers are making a “strong/some effort” to save on medical expenses by staying healthy.

Read the entire article here

Reimagining Health + Wellness

What is the current picture of health and wellness and what will it look like in the future? In Reimagining Health + Wellness we dive deep into the wellness landscape as it exists today. By updating our longitudinal analysis of wellness meanings we describe the continued evolution of wellness consumers in which traditional notions of health and wellness are being redefined and what this means for CPG companies and retailers across food and beverage, food service and personal care.

For more and to order your copy of the report

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