"As consumers' finances improve, VMS brands can drive relevancy by aligning with consumers' holistic wellness approach."
Consumers’ poor value for money image of the vitamins and supplements market will continue to pose an issue for brands in 2025, as consumer confidence is slow to rebound. Lifestyle branding and cross merchandising will drive relevance and reach new audiences.
UK Vitamin Industry Trends and Insights
- Vitamins enjoy widespread use; half the nation thinking that vitamins, minerals or supplements are needed to ensure an optimal nutrient intake for supporting your health underpins this.
- Usage of vitamin D is up, with an increased focus from the UK government promoting the need for Vitamin D in the winter months buoying its visibility.
UK Vitamins and Supplements Market Landscape
A holistic approach to health by consumers sees them turning to a variety of solutions to manage their wellbeing. Positioning VMS as a key component aligned with this will be important to help brands remain relevant. Strong consumer interest in food and drink from VMS brands points to a promising avenue to extend their appeal.
While trending health topics may entice VMS brands, exploring them requires caution. This is because capitalising on fleeting trends has the potential to damage consumer trust, particularly among younger demographics who report lower trust in generalist brands. To successfully navigate this, mainstream VMS brands may need to establish separate sub-brands dedicated to emerging health concepts.
UK Vitamins and Supplements Market Report – What’s Inside?
Key Topics Analysed in the Report
- Key trends in recent launch activity and future product development opportunities
- Usage trends in the VMS market
- Overview of the locations where consumers purchase VMS
- Health management strategies adopted by consumers, including the importance for VMS brands to align with consumers’ holistic wellness approach
- Consumer attitudes towards VMS, including the challenges mainstream brands face when exploring emerging health concepts.
Report Scope
This Report examines the UK market for vitamins and supplements and covers:
- Vitamins – multivitamins and single-dose vitamins (i.e. Vitamins A, B, C, D, E, etc)
- Minerals – eg iron, zinc, calcium, potassium, magnesium, copper, selenium
- Dietary supplements – includes supplements such as cod liver oil, fish oils, GLAs, evening primrose oil, glucosamine and herbs such as garlic, ginseng and ginger.
These products have GSL status, ie they are available on open sale in all types of outlets, including grocers, pharmacies and drugstores.
Unless a medicinal claim is made for the products, vitamins and supplements are not classified as medicines and, therefore, are not subject to the Medicines Act 1968 or the Medicines for Human Use Regulations 1994. They are, however, controlled by the Food Safety Act 1990, and therefore have to be fit for human consumption.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Opportunities for the vitamins and supplements market
- VMS must align with consumers’ holistic approach to health…
- …with opportunities in linking with other wellbeing solutions
- Brands looking to explore emerging health trends must tread carefully…
- …with sub-brands and expert credentials holding potential
- In-store continues to be the most popular buying location…
- …making a cross-channel presence firmly warranted
- Market dynamics and outlook
- Market size & forecast
- Market predictions
- Market to see modest 9% value growth over 2024-29
- Energy supplements outperform in 2024
- Graph 1: mainstream retail* value sales of VMS, by segment, 2024 (est)
- Vitabiotics remains the UK’s top VMS brand
- Graph 2: leading brands’ sales in vitamins and supplements mainstream retail^ market, by value, 2021/22-2023/24
- What consumers want and why
- Seven in ten use VMS
- Graph 3: usage of vitamins and supplements, 2020-24
- Multivitamins and vitamin D supplements prove popular
- Graph 4: types of vitamins taken, 2020-24
- Most consumers buy VMS in-store
- Graph 5: channels for buying vitamins and supplements, 2020-2021 and 2024
- VMS must align with consumers’ holistic approach to health
- Graph 6: preferred steps to take to manage selected health issues*, 2024
- Brands looking to explore emerging health trends must tread carefully
- Graph 7: attitudes towards vitamins, minerals and dietary supplements, 2024
- Innovation and marketing
- NPD from challengers outpaces that from legacy brands
- Women’s health, adaptogenic ingredients and new formats feature among launch trends
- TV and digital advertising continues to lead the way
- Graph 8: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising on vitamins and supplements, by media type, 2021-24*
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MARKET DYNAMICS
- Market size
- VMS value sales propped up by inflation
- Graph 9: mainstream retail* market value for vitamins and supplements, 2019-24
- Market forecast
- Market to see modest 9% value growth over 2024-29
- Sales forecast to reach £516 million by 2029
- Intense competition from food/drink and challengers
- Market segmentation
- Energy and brain/heart health enjoy strong growth
- Adult multivitamin and energy are the largest VMS segments
- Market share
- Vitabiotics leads the category
- Brands owned by Vitabiotics take a quarter of the market value
- Market drivers
- Real wage growth continues, many consumers are still catching up
- Graph 10: CPI inflation rate and total pay growth rate, 2021-24
- One in four see their finances as ‘healthy’
- Graph 11: the financial wellbeing index, 2016-24
- Consumer confidence for the year ahead weakens in 2024
- Graph 12: the financial confidence index, 2016-24
- Strong consumer interest in healthy eating
- Graph 13: how often people try to eat healthily, 2018-24
- Growth of over-55s will buoy demand, decline of under-15s will dampen it
- Graph 14: trends in the age structure of the UK population, 2018-28
- Retailers expand health tests
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WHAT CONSUMERS WANT AND WHY
- Usage of vitamins and supplements
- Two in five use VMS daily
- Daily VMS usage rises in 2024
- Graph 15: usage of vitamins and supplements, 2020-24
- Financial confidence supports uptake
- Older groups are core VMS users, women outpace men…
- Graph 16: usage of vitamins and supplements, by gender and age, 2024
- …thanks to stronger trust in VMS
- Multivitamins and Vitamin D lead
- Graph 17: types of vitamins taken, 2020-24
- Vitamin D usage grows
- Calcium and fish oil lead supplements usage
- Graph 18: types of minerals and dietary supplements taken, 2020-24
- Channels for buying vitamins and supplements
- In-store continues to be the most popular buying location
- Graph 19: channels for buying vitamins and supplements, 2020-2021 and 2024
- DTC brands are a sizeable force, but few users shop only online
- Online presence is needed to reach rural dwellers, parents and high earners
- Graph 20: in-store and online buying of vitamins and supplements, by area, working location, household income and presence of children, 2024
- Many think online brands lead on health trends…
- …necessitating a spotlight on expertise
- Health management strategies
- Consumers adopt a variety of strategies to manage health
- Graph 21: preferred steps to take to manage selected health issues*, 2024
- VMS brands face a complex competitive landscape
- Two in three see food and drink as a better source of nutrients
- Brand extensions into food and drink appeal widely
- Promote VMS alongside other wellbeing solutions to tap into holistic health mindset
- Using cross merchandising can attract new users
- Attitudes towards vitamins, minerals and supplements
- VMS brands looking to explore emerging health trends must tread carefully
- Graph 22: attitudes towards vitamins, minerals and dietary supplements, 2024
- One in three find leading brands jumping on fads untrustworthy…
- …including half of under-35s
- Graph 23: agreement that a leading brand launching vitamins, minerals or supplement products based on popular health trends would make the brand untrustworthy, by age, 2024
- Specialist brands enjoy higher trust among many consumers
- Vitabiotics: a range of differentiated sub-brands
- Scope to mine the trust in specialists further
- The Gut Stuff App exemplifies a holistic expert proposition
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INNOVATION AND MARKETING TRENDS
- Launch activity and innovation
- NPD from challengers outpaces that from legacy brands
- New entrants debut in mass-market channels
- Focus on women’s health continues, with new campaigns…
- … listings and launches
- A handful of brands launch products aimed at men
- Surge in immune, energy and brain claims…
- Graph 24: new product launches in the vitamin and supplement market, by functional claims, 2018-24
- … coincides with boost in NPD with adaptogenic ingredients in capsules/gummies…
- … and powders
- Beauty supplements continue to hold relevance
- Several brands explore new formats
- Graph 25: new product launches in the vitamin and supplement market, by format type, 2018-24
- …including Berocca and Zooki
- Advertising and marketing activity
- TV and digital advertising continues to lead the way
- Graph 26: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising on vitamins and supplements, by media type, 2021-24*
- P&G, Vitabiotics and Athletic Green lead the spend in 2024
- Graph 27: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising on vitamins and supplements, by advertiser, 2021-24*
- P&G’s Seven Seas advertises with Medifacts
- Athletic Greens ramps up spend …
- … including a TV campaign
- Vitabiotics continues to lean on longstanding celebrity partnerships
- Boots spotlights pharmacy expertise…
- … in its ‘Sweet and Sore’ advert
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APPENDIX
- Market forecast data and methodology
- Appendix – value market size and forecast
- Appendix – market forecast and prediction intervals
- Forecast methodology
- Market segmentation
- Appendix – vitamins and supplements value sales by segment
- Market share
- Appendix – vitamins and supplements value manufacturer sales
- Market drivers
- Appendix – UK population projections
- Launch activity and innovation
- Share of branded and private label in new product launches
- New product launches in the vitamin and supplement market by demographic claims, 2018-24
- Graph 28: new product launches in the vitamin and supplement market, by demographic claims, 2018-24
- Number of transactions and customers – AG1 and Vitabiotics
- Graph 29: AG1 by Athletic Greens and Vitabiotics, monthly number of transactions within cohort, 2023-24
- Graph 30: AG1 by Athletic Greens and Vitabiotics, monthly number of customers within cohort, 2023-24
- Report scope and definitions
- Market definition
- Abbreviations and terms
- Consumer research methodology
- Nielsen Ad Intel coverage
- Snoop SpendMapper methodology
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