Vitamins are at the core of what many people think of when they hear the words “dietary supplement,” but it’s questionable how top of mind vitamins might be when those people walk into a brick and mortar store.
Vitamins returned to not-far-above flat sales growth in 2023 after a decline in 2022, but where that disappointing growth came from tells us something about the market that could affect how brands market their products. Mass Market went full-on flat with 0% change in Nutrition Business Journal estimates and Natural and Specialty Retail saw a dip of $27 million, or .5%.
That may not sound like a dramatic change, especially after heavier declines in 2022, but without E-commerce and Practitioner sales, the vitamin market would have declined for a second year in a row. The $168 million gained across the two channels was barely enough to avoid that decline as both multilevel marketing and the combined mail order/direct TV/radio channel also saw losses.
What this means for the supplement industry is unclear. Both Natural and Specialty and Mass Market retail see growth in NBJ projections through 2027, and the nature of the vitamin market is such that new product discovery doesn’t play the role it might for something like Sports Nutrition.
Still, a shift to E-commerce that’s been going on for years seems more dramatic when E-commerce becomes the primary channel that saves a category synonymous with supplements for so many consumers. | 
