ORGANIC FOOD, DRINK & NATURAL SUPPLEMENTS SALES GET A BIG BOOST FROM COVID

Organic food and drinks (UK) are enjoying the highest number of sales collectively since December 2016 – according to a Nielsen report.

Up 6.1% , organic sales have been experiencing double the growth rate of non-organic food and drink products (3.2%) for the year ending 30 May 2020.

Meanwhile, another of Covid’s silver linings (along with cleaner air and wildlife returning to previously abandoned natural habitats) is the boom in natural supplement brands and it’s not just only for “now”.

Natural Products Insider (USA) reported in June 2020 that consumers appear to be embracing supplements (no details, but I imagine products like Omega 3, Vitamin C, turmeric, probiotics and the gut health/brain health boosters) as a much longer-term health strategy, and not only to tide them over during the early days of the pandemic when vitamin sales in particular soared.

And there’s more good news…

Nielsen has also reported a 18.7% increase in organic food and drink sales in the 12 weeks specifically leading up to the last day of May.

The Soil Association is now predicting the organic market will hit £2.6 billion by the end of this year – above the £2.5bn previously predicted.

On the high street and in parking lots, Tesco’s Fairtrade bananas are booming and Waitrose’s organic food and drink sales are up 13% year-on-year 2019/2020.

Whilst natural, herbal-centric health supplements like immune-boosters and natural stress or sleep-better formulas have been flying into our kitchens and bedrooms.

Over in the US, organic sales reportedly rocketed by more than 50% in the very early days when Covid first hit everyone’s radar, and by spring 2020 organic produce sales remained buoyant, still up 20% overall (according to a news report in the IFT).

New and innovative all-natural immune-boosting formulas have been headlining the ‘new launches’ news recently, on NaturalProductsOnline.co.uk too.

A prime example being IMMUNO4 by Mint-e Health Laboratories

This blend of plants includes nigella seed (an incredibly versatile multi-tasker I predicted would be big this year when I wrote the 2020 BEAUTY PREDICTIONS in January).

IMMUNO4 has paired it alongside wellness stars shitake and Bach Flowers and it works in four ways: physically, emotionally (through flower essences), at a cellular level and also vibrationally, thanks to a homeopathic component.

Whilst I haven’t tried IMMUNO4 yet, I think its all-in-one herbal, Bach Flower, homeopathic and medicinal mushroom combination is particularly interesting…and we can surely watch this space for more combinations of different wellbeing ‘modalities’ combined into one single supplement.

BetterYou’s new Vitamin C spray has also landed (perfect for those who hate tablets or capsules or the elderly who may have trouble swallowing)

OptiBac (a Beauty Shortlist Wellbeing Awards winner) has also introduced its own ‘new arrival’ for pregnant mums to help ensure a strong and healthy microbiome for their babies, and Viridian Nutrition is tackling that sometimes elusive concentration factor when you’re working from home with its new two-herb formula launch “Peak Focus” starring lemon balm and sage.

Annoyingly, sleep is a (new) problem for many of us now living in a world that seems to be spinning on uncertainty (I gave up watching the news about 6 years ago) and I think sleep & insomnia will be an even bigger sector in the natural health marketplace well into next year. Bad sleep = bad health. Good days need the foundation of a good night’s sleep.

“Sleep is the ultimate luxury”.

To view all the sleep, stress, CBD, gut and brain health Natural Health categories for 2021, please see:

ENTRY FORM

Beauty – Grooming – Natural Health – Nutrition – Green Home

Submit your entry for 2 March 2021 by clicking here

https://www.thebeautyshortlist.com/2021-awards-entry-form/

 

To tackle insomnia (also a great formulation for worry and to promote relaxation) Beauty Shortlist Wellbeing Awards 2020 winner New Nordic has launched a new version of its Melissa Dream Restful Sleep in April (lemon balm, L-Theanine, chamomile, Vitamin B Complex and magnesium) – this time in the form of vegan gummies. (Side note: there aren’t enough vegan gummies on the market yet as so many contain gelatin, so this is another space to watch).

If sleep has been elusive, I’m writing a special feature on STRESS + SLEEP this weekend (including natural remedies for grief) featuring a beautiful line-up of Beauty Shortlist Wellbeing Awards winners so that might be one to earmark with a cup of tea!

It’ll include products that excelled in the 2020 sleep, stress, immunity and anxiety awards categories.

It’s so incredibly heartening to see Mother Nature in the headlines and brands harnessing her wisdom very deservedly enjoying a rise in sales – and one of the main reasons I launched the Beauty Shortlist Wellbeing Awards in 2019 – “nature first”.

And over to Natural Products News mag’s “NATURE HAS THE ANSWERS” July/August cover for the last word. You couldn’t have said it better…

 

 

 

INSTAGRAM