Smaller niche brands add to incremental sales

The top four best-selling internal analgesic brands — Advil, Aleve, Tylenol and Bayer — generate more than 40% of the overall $3.3 billion in internal analgesic tablet sales, according to IRI figures. But it’s the smaller niche external analgesic brands that are contributing a lot of incremental sales to the pain relief category.

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Hisamitsu’s Salonpas heads up that charge with 13.6% growth and $60.1 million in sales for the 52 weeks ended June 14 across total U.S. multi-outlets, according to IRI. It’s closely followed by Blue Emu ($23.8 million; 54.7%), Australian Dream ($18.8 million; 30.2%) and Boiron Arnicare ($15.8 million; 21.3%).

According to a survey conducted for the Alliance for Aging Research, a significant portion of Americans turn to OTC medicines for their pain relief needs. More than 18% of seniors older than 60 years reported bouts with severe pain, and more than 37% reported having daily pain. More than 70% of this age group use OTC pain relief. For those younger than 60 years, severe pain is experienced by 15%, with 25% reporting daily pain. And 81% of those younger than 60 years use an OTC pain reliever.