In this Issue

Expect 2014 to be an interesting year for beauty as the category continues to see increased innovation, blurring of the lines and cross-pollination.

(For the full category review, including sales data, click here.)

What does that mean? Perhaps research firm Mintel summed it up best by coining it a year of the “mixologiste.”

Whether it is rose hip seed oil, Argan oil, jojoba oil, olive oil or Kukui oil, incorporating oil into a skin care regimen is the buzz, and it is likely that the segment will gain even greater attention during 2014.

(For the full category review, including sales data, click here.)

The electronic cigarette category is booming. Smokers continue to migrate to the devices, and improved technology and lower price points are fueling sales. Manufacturers say that customized tobacco flavors will propel sales going forward.

(For the full category review, including sales data, click here.)

We have an annual holiday tradition at DSN that helped inspire the image on our cover. As the event, a group lunch at a local Chinese restaurant, dovetails with the end of college football season, we call it the “Rice Bowl.”

The Rice Bowl concludes with each person throwing in $1, and we go around the table comparing fortune cookie messages; the one with the “best” fortune as voted by the group gets the pot.

This year I finally won. I walked away with a whopping $5.

A deal announced last month between CVS Caremark and Cardinal Health created a joint venture that the companies said would be the largest generic drug sourcing entity in the United States.

Each company will have a 50% stake in the joint venture, contributing its respective sourcing and supply chain expertise. The deal also included an extension of Cardinal Health’s existing pharmaceutical distribution agreement with CVS Caremark through June 2019.

Sales of personal lubricants were down 5.2% to $207.5 million in sales for the 52 weeks ended Oct. 6, according to IRI across total U.S. multi-outlets. A big part of that decrease is due to new Food and Drug Administration regulations that require lubricant manufacturers to submit a 501k medical device application for approval.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — Whether it’s Argan oil, Moroccan oil, jojoba oil or another type of oil — there’s no denying that hair oils are hot. These nourishing oils promise to deeply penetrate hair to restore health and shine.

As the company completes its 50th year in business and the country awaits a period of change in health care unlike anything seen in at least that time, CVS Caremark executives are quite confident that its unique hybrid structure and its ability to leverage the three core parts of its business — either individually or together, in varying combinations to serve a multitude of needs — aligns more effectively with the long-term trends in health care and puts the company in a unique position at a singular moment in history.