Packaged Facts Publishes New Market Research Report: "The U.S. Market for Vitamins, Minerals, and Supplements".

NEW YORK--(BW HealthWire)--March 12, 1999--Retail sales of nutritional supplements surged past $8.8 billion in 1998, according to "The U.S. Market for Vitamins, Minerals, and Supplements," a new study from Packaged Facts, a publisher of market research reports.

This sales figure combines health and natural food with mass-market sales -- two competing sectors whose traditional distinctions are blurring. Traditionally, health and natural food VSM companies almost exclusively manufacture naturally derived products, including many containing concentrates of whole foods. Mass-market companies mostly manufacture synthetically derived products, obtaining the majority of their sales from multivitamins.

Survival of the fittest...

Now, however, a proliferation of health and natural food brands and companies are entering the mass market, including major natural lines such as Schiff from Weider and innovators such as Natrol. At the same time, mass-market companies like Leiner and NBTY have continued to diversify, and now release new products almost as quickly as their health and natural food counterparts.

With roughly 1,000 VSM products being introduced each year, competition has increased across the board. After years of easy entry, companies are finding it harder to gain space on retail shelves.

Both retailers and suppliers agree that a "survival-of-the-fittest" process is starting to unfold, as retailers now have the luxury of choosing just those vendors whose lines meet their criteria.

"The U.S. Market for Vitamins, Minerals, and Supplements" (300+ pages, $2,750) is available from Packaged Facts, a division of Kalorama Information. For a free table of contents or to order the report, call [phone] and mention Department RPPP.

Kalorama Information, LLC (http://www.findexonline.com) is a leading publisher and distributor of marketing intelligence resources. Each year, it publishes more than 100 market research reports under these well-established brands: Kalorama Market Research, Packaged Facts, Find/SVP, Specialists in Business Information and KidTrends(TM). Kalorama Information also publishes "The Information Catalog" and "FINDEX, The Worldwide Directory of Market Research Reports, Studies and Surveys."

NOTE TO EDITORS: The Executive Summary is available to press members. Please contact Julie Weinberg by fax at [phone] or by email at [e-mail].