The nutraceuticals market includes vitamins and supplements, as well as functional foods and beverages. According to a new report from PMMI Business Intelligence, 2019 Nutraceuticals Market Assessment, consumers around the world are seeking alternatives to better health, suffering from pill fatigue, and looking for more innovative foods and drinks that supply all their nutritional needs for exercise, weight management, digestive health, and general well-being.
Online vitamin and supplement purchases have been increasing so quickly—the category is moving 12% faster than overall e-commerce sales. When selling online, the product must be intact, look good and look as appealing in real life as it did in the online photo. E-Commerce is necessitating a movement away from rigid plastic and glass containers toward portable stick packs and flexible pouches.
“Whether you send one or four bottles, every business is affected by Amazon. So you have to consider size and packaging. You do not want glass and you do not want a large heavy package,” said one maintenance manager at a functional drinks company.
A large amount of e-commerce packaging is done robotically and may not be able to pack glass bottles of nutraceutical products safely and effectively. Amazon is helping dictate the move towards more easily packable trays and pouches. These pouches and trays also help lower shipping costs with lower weight packaging and more easily packable nutraceutical products.
A project engineer at a functional foods & supplements company said, “Everyone is looking for better shelf life. Some products we make in the USA and ship all over the world. So it is a long lead time. Our packaging is very robust. Films will be thicker and we may have additional layers to better handle the time of shipping.”
Companies are also looking towards more sophisticated desiccant systems to maintain the freshness of nutraceutical products during the shipping process.
Nutraceutical manufacturers are moving away from a cold supply chain towards other systems for maintaining freshness. As the project engineer mentioned, shelf life is increasingly important as products are shipped all over the world, leading to robust packaging choices with more layers or thicker films.
Personalization
Personalization is emerging within the supplement market specifically, says the report. Individual needs assessment may be achieved through dedicated apps, analytical devices, or laboratory methods. In fact, the study reports that 19% of Americans say they have taken a DNA test for dietary reasons.
For more on personalization, check out our coverage here.
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