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| Vitamin, supplements industry thriving Claude SolnikThe sign in the front window of Zeke Sandy's store, The Healthy Garden Nutrition Center, proclaims its grand opening in bright orange and yellow letters. Another sign - nearly as bold - announces that the store offers Cytodyne Technologies' Xenadrine EFX, an ephedra-free weight-loss, energy-boosting supplement. According to Sandy, Xenadrine is a hit with customers, as are the other ephedra-free products offered by Healthy Garden. Some thought the vitamin and supplements industry would take a hit when the Food and Drug Administration declared the use of ephedra in dietary supplements illegal as of April 14, after some users allegedly became ill and others died after ingesting it. continued below... |
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But that wasn't the case. The market, in fact, has produced a number of ephedra alternatives that are flying off the shelves.
Hauppauge-based Twinlab Corp.'s Ripped Fuel contains amino acids designed to burn fat; Natural Balance touts its Ultra DietPep, and Trim Spa touts its own products as a safer way to lose weight.
The fact is, ephedra was only a small part of vitamin stores' overall sales.
Harvey Kamil, president of Bohemia-based NBTY, said ephedra accounted for about 1 or 2 percent of the company's revenue, though he criticizes Suffolk County's ban on the sale of the substance to minors before the FDA ban.
This was not an issue that should've been taken up by the Suffolk Legislature, he said.
As it turns out, the absence of ephedra has in some cases benefited smaller operations by eliminating competing products, said David Friedlander, president of Freeport-based Vitamin Power Inc. The elimination of ephedra also has fueled sales of alternatives for weight control, such as chromium picolinate and certain amino acids including arginine and phenylalanine.
[Losing ephedra] may have done damage in certain segments of the industry targeting athletes and body builders, but to the average American consumer, I don't think it mattered, said Friedlander. Most people wouldn't use an ephedra product. I think the reason for the problem was that most of the users were high-school and college athletes - and sometimes professional athletes.
By most accounts, despite the ephedra ban and turbulence at firms such as Twinlabs, which went bankrupt and sold its assets to IdeoSphere, the vitamin and nutritional supplement business is booming.
The National Nutritional Foods Association reported that the industry racked up $58 billion in . sales in 2002 and that revenue appears to be edging up.
For NBTY, sales for the second quarter ended March 31 shot up 58 percent to $440 million and net income more than doubled to $41 million. The company has expanded to three million square feet of space on Long Island - making it one of the region's largest tenants - rolled up a string of companies and expanded around the globe.
Sales at NBTY's . nutrition wholesale division, which operates Nature's Bounty and Rexall Sundown, rose 123 percent to $189 million.
Even smaller firms such as Vitamin Power said their sales are on the rise.
The American population - the world population - wants to stay young and healthy, wants to feel good and look good, said Kamil. Nutritional supplements allow that.
While weight-loss products are among the top sellers, a profusion of others have helped pad the nutrition market's bankroll.
We probably have 15 to 16 different varieties of Vitamin C alone, said Friedlander, whose store sells about 300 items. There are too many products, but that [array] is based on consumer demand over the past 25 years. They want variety.
An aging population, too, is fueling demand for an entire class of supplements - bone-building, calcium and anti-inflammatory products such as glucosamine and chondroitin that aim to relieve the symptoms of arthritis and improve joint health.
The global nature of today's economy is proving a boon to the nutrition industry as well.
The global food-supplements business accounts for $150 billion in sales, according to the Nutrition Business Journal, and NBTY Chairman and CEO Scott Rudolph said the company is seeking to position itself as the dominant force in the worldwide nutritional supplement market.
The firm's second-quarter retail sales in Europe increased 42 percent to $123 million, boosted by $10 million in sales from 50 General Nutition Center stores in the United Kingdom and $10 million from 67 DeTuinen stores in the Netherlands that NBTY acquired in fiscal-year 2003.
The nutrition industry should take heed, though. While pharmaceutical companies often work for years before rolling out a new drug, nutritional supplement makers unveil new offerings with relative ease. But if the ephedra ban serves as a precedent, and the FDA continues to intervene in the market's goings-on, that could alter the industry.
The ephedra issue may set a precedent unfairly on other products, said Friedlander. As an industry, our concern is we don't want them to use this issue as a legal precedent for other products.
IF NEEDED: supplement pics, David Friedlander pic
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