Vitamins have never been this hot.
As the coronavirus pandemic worsens in the U.S. and consumers race to boost immunity, sales of herbal supplements, vitamins and minerals are experiencing astoundingly high levels of growth, shocking even the experts who track the market.
The $1.6 billion dollar multivitamin category in mass, drug and grocery, for instance, last month saw a 23 percent jump in one week as consumers began to panic shop, according to IRI data. “That’s just crazy,” said Joan Driggs, an analyst at IRI. She noted that a 1 percent gain is typically considered good for the category.
It’s not just multivitamins and immunity-boosters that are experiencing high growth, but also products that claim to reduce anxiety, like CBD.
“As consumers look around the world at all the things they can’t control, this market is part of their war chest,” she noted.
Here, some of the biggest sales spikes in the vitamin and supplement category from the four weeks ending March 15, according to IRI:
Vitamin C: Up 143.7 percent, up 395 percent from prior week
Elderberry: Up 368.4 percent, up 788.5 percent from prior week
Vitamin D: Up 26.9 percent, up 82.2 percent from prior week
Melatonin: Up 40 percent, up 56.5 percent from prior week
Zinc: Up 184.8 percent, up 437 percent from prior week
Echinacea: Up 127 percent, up 334.1 percent from prior week
Ginger: Up 118.1 percent, up 215.8 percent from prior week
Ashwagandha: Up 274 percent, up 312.2 percent from prior week
CBD: Up 38.7 percent, up 75.8 percent from prior week
Taurine: Up 693.9 percent, up 779. percent from prior week
Horsetail: Up 40.7 percent, up 1793 percent from prior week
