The business of nutritional bars is booming, with 9-of-the-top-10 brands trending at a double-digit annual growth rate. And that one bar not growing in double digits is the No. 1-selling bar — General Mills’ Fiber One — by a margin of more than $60 million in annual sales.

Meda Consu­mer Healthcare has put together an entire line of iron supplements in an effort to create a resurgence in the category.

Vitamin D has been one of the fastest-growing segments in the VMS market since 2010, a factor that has been in step with the number of positive clinical studies establishing the need for vitamin D supplementation.

Seasonal candy powers the category. Last year, chocolate and nonchocolate seasonal sales were strong for Valentine’s Day and Easter.

Drug stores continue to offer more fresh grocery items. “Fresh fruit and vegetables are top grocery categories. There’s high demand for the products, and the size of the market is huge. So it makes sense that the drug channel is going after that business,” said Harry Balzer, chief industry analyst and VP of the NPD Group.

Pfizer recently launched a line of single-ingredient supplements under a new ProNutrients brand that includes Omega-3, Probiotic and Fruit & Veggie.

The cosmetics segment has been on the upswing, and the momentum is likely to continue within the mass market as beauty mavens get increasingly thrifty and do their research when it comes to purchasing makeup.


Gel manicures are one of the more popular salon services in the professional market, and now beauty mavens can create the look at home — for a fraction of the price — thanks to several new innovations hitting the mass market.

Probiotics are fast moving from a “what’s that?” category to a “what’s hot” category.

Sales of plain PET bottled water may be flat, but there’s significant action in flavored and enhanced waters. Glaceau’s Vitaminwater Zero saw triple-digit sales increases in all three channels (excluding Walmart) for the 52 weeks ended Aug. 7, according to the SymphonyIRI Group.

Americans are becoming greener, and eco-friendly products are es­pecially relevant in the greeting card aisle. Victoria Sutton, CEO of All in The Cards, said the company has doubled production of craft recycled products for holiday 2011.

Redbox remains the dominant player in kiosk DVD rentals with an average of 55 million rentals monthly in second quarter 2011.