U.S. Retail Sales of Herbal Supplements Grew 9.4% in 2018
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Originally Appeared in Presence Marketing News, October 2019
By Steven Hoffman
Driven by the growth of CBD, mushrooms and immune-enhancing products, sales of herbal supplements in the U.S. increased 9.4% in 2018, according to a new report published by the American Botanical Council (ABC) in collaboration with market research firm SPINS and Nutrition Business Journal. Consumers spent a total of $8.842 billion on herbal supplements across all market channels in 2018, an increase of approximately $757 million in sales over the previous year, marking the strongest year of U.S. sales growth of herbal supplements since 1998, according to the report, available for download here. In mainstream retail outlets, herbal supplements with horehound (Marrubium vulgare) listed as the primary ingredient, including natural cough drops and lozenges, grossed the highest sales in 2018. Goji berry (Lycium spp.) supplements, many of which are marketed for weight loss, experienced the strongest sales growth in this channel, with a 637% increase from 2017. Booming sales of products containing cannabidiol (CBD), a psychoactive but non-intoxicating constituent of Cannabis sativa, made it the top-selling ingredient with the highest percent sales growth (332.8%) in the 2018 natural channel, says ABC. “CBD and mushroom products dominated the 2018 herbal supplement scene, and sales growth remained strong for Ayurvedic herbs and adaptogens,” said Tyler Smith, Managing Editor of HerbalGram, who has co-authored the report since 2014. “There were also a few surprises in the data — sales of goji berry, for example, which had declined sharply in recent years, experienced a significant rebound in 2018,” he said. “This report strongly supports the continually rising consumer preference for natural, plant-based dietary supplements that can have a positive impact on their health,” said Mark Blumenthal, ABC founder and executive director, and editor-in-chief of HerbalGram. “For over 20 years we have been publishing information on the steady growth of the market for herbal dietary supplements in the United States; the market sales results demonstrate the confidence that consumers appear to have in herbal dietary supplements.”