In early March, sales of vitamins, supplements, and minerals climbed 19.5% to £48.5m [Kantar 4 w/e 22 March 2020].

This was largely driven by consumers looking for a way to boost their immunity, as evidenced by the 110% rice in Vitamin C sales. Globally, vitamin C is one of the most well-known nutrients for its role in immune support, and many companies have reported increased demand. Similarly, with vitamin D, in the month running up to lockdown, sales of the immune-boosting vitamin grew 29.8%. This is likely due to people being indoors most of the day, and the government advising the public to take Vitamin D during the lockdown. There was also an increase in sales for multivitamins, the 50 plus, pregnancy and children and adult multivitamin categories.

Growth in more mainstream sectors such as children’s and adults’ multivitamins was driven by new shoppers entering the category with less knowledge on what to buy to protect their immune system. According to the latest research by Kantar, more and more consumers are purchasing their supplements online. A real surge can be seen in the older shopper going online and this demographic is the one that overtrades in vitamins. The early evidence suggests the shift to online buying is accelerating as consumers are buying more products for their health.

As the pandemic makes Brits even more concerned about their health, the immunity supplements category is expected to reach a record year.

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*Claims for food supplements mentioned in this article are not meant for general public, but are purely for information of food supplement industry professionals. Please note that the claims are not authorised by European Food Safety Authority for use on labels or marketing materials.