ABC report: Herbal supplements notch 4.4% sales growth in wake of pandemic

Sales of herbal supplements have regained momentum, according to the American Botanical Council’s annual Herb Market Report. The 4.4% year-over-year growth in 2023 — while still a healthy figure – was far off the sales boom achieved during the pandemic years. 

The report, published annually in ABC’s HerbalGram magazine, showed that annual sales of herbal dietary supplements hit $15.6 billion in 2023. That represented a $533 overall expenditure increase over 2022. 

The 4.4% growth figure comes on the heels of 2022, when sales shrank for the first time in more than a decade. Sales in 2022 were down 1.8% over the year before. 

However, annual sales increases have been 7.5% or higher since 2015. Sales increased by a hefty 9.6% in 2021 and a staggering 17.8% in 2020, years in which markets were distorted by pandemic-induced demand spikes. 

Solid growth number after pandemic tumult 

HerbalGram editor Tyler Smith, one of the report’s authors, characterized the sales figure as a return to the solid growth the category has enjoyed for more than 15 years. 

“After record-breaking sales of herbal supplements during the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic and the first drop in sales in nearly a decade in 2022, the return to annual sales growth in 2023 is remarkable,” Smith said. 

The 2023 report, like in other years, was based on data culled from SPINS, a Chicago-based market research company, and information from Nutrition Business Journal, an Informa publication. The data is broken down into sales in the natural channel and in mainstream market outlets. 

The report focuses on sales of dietary supplements organized by their chief herbal component.  

The leading seller in the mainstream channel was psyllium, primarily because of its use in popular OTC laxative products. Sales of the ingredient hit $276 million in 2023, representing a 2.7% year-over-year increase. 

Backside of the immune health craze 

The No. 2 seller in the mainstream channel was elderberry, an immune health ingredient, and in surging demand during the pandemic. Elderberry sales in that channel reached $177 million, which represented a 28% year-over-year decline. Elderberry ranked No. 3 in the natural channel, with sales of $24 million, representing a 20% year-over-year decline. 

Has market for turmeric matured? 

Turmeric ranked No. 2 in the mainstream channel, with sales of $133.3 million, representing 3.7% growth. The herb ranked No. 1 in the natural channel, where it recorded $37 million in sales, which was unchanged from the year before.  

While the momentum in turmeric sales has slowed to a crawl, it could be a case of the herb approaching market saturation. For context, the HerbalGram report that reported 2013 data showed turmeric sales accounted for only $4.4 million in the mainstream channel that year. It was the leading seller in the natural channel that year with $21.3 million in sales. 

Big sales growth winners 

Among the sales growth leaders in the natural channel were barberry (Berberis vulgaris, Berberidaceae), which saw sales increase by 98.3% to reach $8.4 million. The botanical is a major source of the compound berberine, which has been the subject of a TikTok craze that extolls the ingredient’s weight loss benefits. It has been dubbed “Nature’s Ozempic,” alluding to the popular weight loss drug. 

And in the 52 weeks ending on Aug. 5, 2024, barberry grew 59.2% in dollar sales and 68.8% in unit sales compared to a year ago, according to SPINS data. 

One natural channel sales growth winner in 2023 was all forms of mushroom products. Sales of these products increased by 31% during the year to hit $20.9 million. 

In the mainstream channel, the big sales growth winners were wheat grass/barley grass products and beet root offerings. Both ingredient categories achieved sales growth of more than 100% during the year.  

The increase in beet root sales seems to be attributable to widening the appeal of an ingredient to new categories of customers, according to ABC’s report. 

“Beet root supplements, for example, once used primarily among athletes for potential performance benefits, are finding new marketing opportunities in the cardiovascular health and energy categories,” the report stated. 

What’s the new normal? 

The 2023 data shows the market may be returning to some form of normality after the excess of the pandemic years. But it’s not clear what the new normal will look like. 

“It remains to be seen whether such growth will be reminiscent of the modest increases seen in the first decade of the 2000s or a return to the more robust sales growth of the 2010s,” the report concluded.