Citizens do not need supplements – Newspaper Kommersant No. 243 (7444) of 12/29/2022

Sales of biologically active additives (BAA) in pharmacies, which after a failure in April-July began to grow at the end of summer, fell again in November. During the month, 23.2 million packages were sold, which is almost 17% less year-on-year. Experts attribute this not only to the desire of buyers to save money, but also to a decrease in the spread of COVID-19, since these funds are used in rehabilitation after an illness. In addition, marketplaces that sell dietary supplements at a lower price come with significant competition to pharmaceutical retailers.

As follows from the DSM Group report available to Kommersant, in November, pharmacy chains sold 23.2 million packages of dietary supplements for 7.5 billion rubles. Although in monetary terms this volume increased by 0.6% compared to October, in real terms it decreased by 3.4%. Even more notably, sales of supplements in packages decreased year-on-year, by 16.8% compared to November 2021.

Evalar, a major manufacturer and seller of dietary supplements, confirms the drop in their sales. In November of this year, demand fell by 14% yoy, says company spokeswoman Ekaterina Belyaeva. Last year at this time, supplements were actively bought as a means of rehabilitation after suffering COVID-19. Demand is also falling due to a surge in influenza and SARS later in November, when vitamins and dietary supplements are actively bought, Sergey Shulyak, CEO of DSM Group, agrees.

The 36.6 network says that in November 2022, they sold about 1.5 million packages of dietary supplements, which is almost 38% more year-on-year. For other networks, the situation is different. In Zdravcity, the demand for dietary supplements in January-November 2022 decreased year-on-year by 7% in packages, in Rigla over the same period – by 1%.

According to DSM Group, following the results of 11 months, pharmacy chains in general sold 263.7 million packages of dietary supplements, which is 6.5% less year-on-year. The total revenue is 81.8 billion rubles, which, on the contrary, is more by 12.3% year-on-year due to higher prices. However, throughout 2022, sales of dietary supplements in pharmaceutical retail were uneven.

In March, the rush demand caused after February 24 not only for dietary supplements, but also for medicines, allowed the pharmaceutical retailer to sell a record 37.3 million packages of dietary supplements for 12.3 billion rubles, which turned out to be 42.7% more compared to February. In April, sales fell by 38.5% mom, in May – by 15.5%. In June and July, the contraction amounted to 9.4% and 5% mom, respectively. The decline in demand for dietary supplements stopped in August, when 18 million packages were sold for 5.7 billion rubles, which is 5.1% more than in July, and growth continued in September-October.

Interviewed by Kommersant, market participants believe that the decline in November in the sale of dietary supplements in pharmacies reflects a general trend towards the beginning of a more noticeable reduction in their costs by consumers than in summer. First of all, buyers begin to refuse bioadditives, since these are not vital products, says Nikolai Bespalov, RNC Pharma Development Director.

But, according to the expert, part of the demand was taken over by marketplaces. “Due to lower operating costs and a significant range of Internet sites have the opportunity to offer lower prices, including dietary supplements,” explains Mr. Bespalov. At Evalar, the share of sales in the online segment in turnover has already exceeded 20%, says Ekaterina Belyaeva. She adds that online sales are growing much faster than the traditional pharmacy segment. Wildberries see the steady interest of consumers in buying dietary supplements on the online platform. Yandex.Market records a fourfold increase in sales of dietary supplements and vitamins year on year.

Experts believe that sales of dietary supplements in pharmacies may fall further. This process, Nikolai Bespalov believes, may be slowed down in the event of an increase in the income of the population or due to the offer by the pharmaceutical retailer of some unique products that are not available on online platforms.

Olga August