Pediatric cough-cold line sweetens OTC

Zarbee’s has been expanding its pediatric cough-cold line featuring buckwheat honey with the launch of Zarbee’s Nighttime Cough and Sleep Drink, an over-the-counter nighttime cough remedy proven safe and effective for children 2 years of age and older.


“In this product we’ve taken the dark honeys, but we’ve put it in a granulated form so that it can be mixed in hot water,” noted Zak Zarbock, the pediatrician who created the product. In the first two months on shelf, Zarbee’s Nighttime moved more than 180,000 units across one national pharmacy retailer.


And while the product is a dietary supplement, and advertised as such, that doesn’t mean it can’t run head-to-head against other products on the cough-cold shelf. A Penn State survey published in 2007 in The Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine found that the parents of a group of children taking buckwheat honey to reduce cough reported significant difference in symptom relief versus the parents of a group of children taking a honey-flavored dextromethorphan product.


In addition to buckwheat honey, Zarbee’s Nighttime Cough and Sleep Drink contains vitamin C, zinc and elderberry, as well as a small amount of melatonin.

The article above is part of the DSN Category Review Series. For the complete Vitamins, Minerals and Supplements Sell-Through Report, including extensive charts, data and more analysis, click here.