HRG Future 50

Coming off of a relatively strong 2022, supplier-introduced new products slowed a little bit in 2023. The Waukesha, Wis.-based data and analytics company HRG reviewed 1,634 new health, beauty and wellness items in 2023, and came up with its list of the top 50 that stand a good chance of being successful on store shelves in the coming years.

“This is a decrease of 12.8% from the 1,875 products reviewed in 2022,” HRG said in a February release. “Of the newly introduced items in 2023, 18, or 1% of new items, never made it to the retail shelf as their launches were canceled by manufacturers sometime after their initial HRG review. The decrease in new product introductions is the fourth consecutive year that HBW launches have declined. It can be directly attributed to manufacturers focusing on managing continued supply chain irregularities and rationalizing the ranges for their current brand portfolios.”

HRG compiled the list using an unbiased, weighted review of promotional support, product innovation, importance to community pharmacy, earning and category growth potential to determine future performance. HRG’s category research and analysis team also reviewed key sales indicators and distribution within community pharmacies to select the new items trending to be the top 50 performers.

Several trends emerge in HRG’s analysis. Here are some of the highlights:

• Within the top five categories in independent pharmacy (cold & allergy, pain relief, diabetes management, vitamins & dietary supplements and digestive health), 425 new items were reviewed, with 70 of those products receiving a Star, or roughly 16.5%.
•  The wellness classification, for the second consecutive year, had more product launches (776), than the beauty segment (626). Wellness products also earned the second highest quantity of Stars for 2023 introductions at 11.25%. Two of these wellness products received the sought-after three-star rating, one in the first aid category, the other in feminine care.
•  The health classification had the largest percent of Stars awarded at 18%.
• The beauty classification experienced a continued three-year decline in overall product launches from 2022, with 3% of products being awarded HRG Stars.
• The gummy form is trending for a third year—when comparing the gummy form to the total new items for 2023, nearly 7% were in this popular form, spanning six categories. Some of the key treatment targets for these products are sleep, immunity, pre- and probiotics, and popular supplements such as magnesium and ashwagandha.
• Manufacturers continue to focus on the self-care trend by introducing products that focus on immune support and products that include elderberry. Another popular ingredient for 2023 was hemp, utilized as an aid in reducing pain, and it was popular in beauty regimen lines.
• Whitening products also increased in 2023, with consumers looking for personal treatment options. This subcategory increased in performance over 2022.
• The popular scent, lavender, was not only found in beauty products in 2023, it was utilized in health and wellness products as well, in categories such as foot care and cold & allergy.