Post by Sadie on Apr 14, 2009 19:39:22 GMT
Stormy worldwide recession has swept some unexpectedly high sales to those making and retailing vitamins, according to a report from America.
The purchasing of nutritional supplements and vitamins has been steadily growing for years, and has dramatically surged in recent months: as the stock market has fallen, so vitamin sales have risen. On typical shopper in a health-food story in the suburbs of Cleveland explained why she was buying a bottle of supplements (priced at $8). Her purchase might well explain the upturn in supplement sales. The 39-year-old woman had been a clerk in a successful greetings card company, but since losing her job a few months ago, had started to make economies.
“If I had a job with health insurance, I probably would have gone to see a doctor by now,” said the woman who was suffering with a nasty head cold. “But instead, I’m here buying echinacea. I hope it works.”
In more prosperous times, the woman spent $50 a month on prescriptions for her allergies, asthma and other chronic health problems. Now she has reduced her personal healthcare budget to a mere $6 for over-the-counter protein supplements and oregano oil capsules. “That’s an important savings for me,” she said. “It means I can rent a movie or make the kids food that they actually like.”
Many other American consumers seem to be doing the same calculation. Sales of vitamins and nutritional supplements, have increased in recent months - rising as the value of the stock market has plummeted.
Many retailers of items as varied as food, fashion and flat-screen televisions have reported that consumers are clearly cutting back, yet in contrast they are stocking up on supplements and vitamins that they think can save them from expensive doctor’s bills. A visit to the doctor is a chargeable item in the States, of course, which could amount to a sizeable portion of a family budget if a member is taken ill.
Professor of Economics at Princeton whose specialty is health care policy Uwe E. Reinhardt, throws some light on the phenomenon: “When you go to the formal health system, you very quickly lose control over what this costs you.” Instead of turning immediately to a doctor, “people try to initially tough it out,” he said.
The explanation for this growing interest in vitamins and herbs, according to Professor Reinhardt, is a logical extension of the concept of “consumer-directed health care”. Over the last 20 years. — the idea has been growing in strength and acceptance, that people might take more preventative measures if the “excess” figure on their medical insurance policies were correspondingly adjusted. There are those, however, who consider that this self-medication approach leads to people staying sicker longer and avoiding much-needed medical treatment.
Company chairman of a national chain with 414 stores which retails vitamins, Tom Tolworthy, reports that customers have been expressing alarm over health care costs and the high unemployment rate: “The reduction of benefits associated with prescription drugs is sending people to prevention and alternative health care,” he said.
Mr. Tolworthy’s vitamin stores have tracked a rise in new customers of about 20 percent over the last six months, at least 25 percent higher than the rise in new customers that the chain saw in the recession of 2001.
Throughout the States, statistics tell a similar story. Sales of vitamins rose nearly 8 percent for the last quarter of the year compared with the same period in 2007, according to Information Resources Inc., a market research company in Chicago. The strong sales of vitamins and supplements have continued into this year. “Our best January and February in history are the ones that just happened,” reports another supplements manufacturer from Vermont.
Direct evidence linking the rise in sales to the recession is more anecdotal than scientific, though industry analysts report that they saw the same correlation, though less marked, in previous downturns.
The purchasing of nutritional supplements and vitamins has been steadily growing for years, and has dramatically surged in recent months: as the stock market has fallen, so vitamin sales have risen. On typical shopper in a health-food story in the suburbs of Cleveland explained why she was buying a bottle of supplements (priced at $8). Her purchase might well explain the upturn in supplement sales. The 39-year-old woman had been a clerk in a successful greetings card company, but since losing her job a few months ago, had started to make economies.
“If I had a job with health insurance, I probably would have gone to see a doctor by now,” said the woman who was suffering with a nasty head cold. “But instead, I’m here buying echinacea. I hope it works.”
In more prosperous times, the woman spent $50 a month on prescriptions for her allergies, asthma and other chronic health problems. Now she has reduced her personal healthcare budget to a mere $6 for over-the-counter protein supplements and oregano oil capsules. “That’s an important savings for me,” she said. “It means I can rent a movie or make the kids food that they actually like.”
Many other American consumers seem to be doing the same calculation. Sales of vitamins and nutritional supplements, have increased in recent months - rising as the value of the stock market has plummeted.
Many retailers of items as varied as food, fashion and flat-screen televisions have reported that consumers are clearly cutting back, yet in contrast they are stocking up on supplements and vitamins that they think can save them from expensive doctor’s bills. A visit to the doctor is a chargeable item in the States, of course, which could amount to a sizeable portion of a family budget if a member is taken ill.
Professor of Economics at Princeton whose specialty is health care policy Uwe E. Reinhardt, throws some light on the phenomenon: “When you go to the formal health system, you very quickly lose control over what this costs you.” Instead of turning immediately to a doctor, “people try to initially tough it out,” he said.
The explanation for this growing interest in vitamins and herbs, according to Professor Reinhardt, is a logical extension of the concept of “consumer-directed health care”. Over the last 20 years. — the idea has been growing in strength and acceptance, that people might take more preventative measures if the “excess” figure on their medical insurance policies were correspondingly adjusted. There are those, however, who consider that this self-medication approach leads to people staying sicker longer and avoiding much-needed medical treatment.
Company chairman of a national chain with 414 stores which retails vitamins, Tom Tolworthy, reports that customers have been expressing alarm over health care costs and the high unemployment rate: “The reduction of benefits associated with prescription drugs is sending people to prevention and alternative health care,” he said.
Mr. Tolworthy’s vitamin stores have tracked a rise in new customers of about 20 percent over the last six months, at least 25 percent higher than the rise in new customers that the chain saw in the recession of 2001.
Throughout the States, statistics tell a similar story. Sales of vitamins rose nearly 8 percent for the last quarter of the year compared with the same period in 2007, according to Information Resources Inc., a market research company in Chicago. The strong sales of vitamins and supplements have continued into this year. “Our best January and February in history are the ones that just happened,” reports another supplements manufacturer from Vermont.
Direct evidence linking the rise in sales to the recession is more anecdotal than scientific, though industry analysts report that they saw the same correlation, though less marked, in previous downturns.
