Sleep aids awaken as key to overall wellness

With sleep aids rising from the floor level shelf across several analgesic planograms, the category that features several dietary supplement players is becoming more prominent. Sales of melatonin, the natural ingredient most often associated with calming and sleep, were up 35.8% to $123.9 million for the 52 weeks ended Oct. 28, according to SymphonyIRI Group across its total U.S. multi-outlet data set.

Raising the profile of products containing melatonin may have awoken a sleeping giant of a category. “Sleep aids only have 6% penetration when you look at the OTC world,” noted Jeff Cohen, VP general manager for Meda Consumer Healthcare. “It’s a really underpenetrated category.”

Meda gained entry into the category with its recent acquisition of MidNite, a melatonin supplement with annualized revenues of approximately $15 million, according to the company.

And Dream Products’ sleep-aid shot Dream Water was featured on CNBC’s “How I Made My Millions” not too long ago. “There is a chronic sleep issue affecting a substantial minority of the population,” David Lekach, Dream Products EVP sales, told DSN. “When you factor in [that sleep] is more and more becoming part of the overall wellness conversation — the fundamental building block of any wellness program is sleeping right.”

The article above is part of the DSN Category Review Series. For the complete VMS Buy-In Report, including extensive charts, data and more analysis, click here.