Market Research Briefs

Growing interest in the nutrition industry by mainstream investors has impacted merger and acquisition activity in the natural products industry over the past five years, according to the Mergers & Acquisitions Report 2001, available from Nutrition Business Journal (www.nutritionbusiness.com). The report details 310 transactions in the nutrition industry between 1996 and 2001, organized into nine business segments.

Selective COX-2 inhibitors will drive market growth in the osteoarthritis market, according to a new study from Decision Resources Inc. (DRI) (www.dresources.com). According to DRI, the products will take market share from classic non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) and inspire new patients to seek care for their condition.

The new AZU Report combines proprietary health and wellness lifestyle segmentation from SPINS (www.spins.com) with quantitative consumer information from FreeSamples.com. The report addresses common questions among new entrants to the category and how to act on the lifestyle trends influencing their choices.

The Hispanic population grew more than four times as fast as the population as a whole between 1990 and 2000, and between 1994 and 1999 there was a 47.4-percent increase in expenditures by Hispanic consumers, according to a new study from Packaged Facts, a division of MarketResearch.com (www.marketresearch.com). The U.S. Hispanic Market Report delivers demographic profiles of the Hispanic population, consumer shopping behavior, strategies for marketing to Hispanics, and case studies of businesses that have successfully done so.

The aging population, government regulations and strategic partnering are defining the boundaries of and the growth potential for the nutraceutical market in the United States, claims Frost & Sullivan (www.frost.com). Strategic Analysis of the U.S. Nutraceuticals Market estimates that the total market for functional ingredients, functional foods/beverages, dietary supplements and foods for special dietary use is currently approximately $50 billion.

The Natural Marketing Institute (NMI) released the 2001 Health & Wellness Trends Report, showing that consumer interest in functional products, attention to alternative health care, stagnating sales of dietary supplements and sustained growth of prescription drugs defined the health and wellness marketplace in the past year. NMI (www.nmisolutions.com) conducts the trends report annually and offers three years of annually trended consumer data. The report measures 16 shopping channels and more than 80 product categories.