In pharmacies, there was a surge in sales of dietary supplements used for hangovers

In pharmacy chains, there is a surge in sales of biologically active additives (BAA) used for hangovers. During the first half of the year, demand for them jumped by more than 55%. The reason is not only the growth of alcohol consumption in the country, but also the mass market launch of such products by manufacturers. Experts expect a further increase in the whole segment of dietary supplements, predicting a significant flow of sales to marketplaces, the requirements for which are lower than for pharmacies.

As follows from the DSM Group calculations, in January-June, sales in pharmacies of dietary supplements used for hangover symptoms increased by 55.6% in physical terms, to 1 million packs, in monetary terms – by 90.4%, to 165.4 million rub. excluding VAT. Almost two-fold increase in the sale of these funds in money is caused by their noticeable rise in price in retail, analysts explain.

The network “36.6” reported that sales of anti-hangover supplements in January-June of this year in the network increased by 274% year-on-year, to 49.9 thousand packages.

Alkozinal, launched on the market in 2022, showed the highest dynamics in sales of additives used for hangovers in pharmaceutical retail, by 413%, which is explained by the low base of last year, the DSM Group notes. Following are Alcodetox funds (growth by 36%) and Antipolizey (35%).

Large suppliers of additives for hangovers are the Novosibirsk “Biosan”, “Prodmarket” and the Austrian Ed.Haas, says Sergey Shulyak, CEO of DSM Group, adding that they account for about 73% of sales in money in this segment. These companies did not answer Kommersant’s questions.

At the same time, analysts say, in the first half of the year, sales of all types of dietary supplements in physical terms decreased by 3.4%, to 190.5 million packages, but in monetary terms they increased by 7%, to 59.6 billion rubles.

According to Rosstat, in January-June this year, the country produced 10.2 thousand tons of biologically active additives, which is 29.7% more year-on-year.

Alexander Zhestkov, Executive Director of the SRO Union of Producers of Dietary Supplements for Food, connects the growth in sales with the active promotion of these products by manufacturers and importers. Sergey Shulyak says that dietary supplements are cheaper and faster to register, it will take about three months and several hundred thousand rubles, while for drugs – at least a year and a half and tens of millions of rubles.

The mandatory labeling of dietary supplements, effective from September 1 this year, is unlikely to significantly affect the sales of these products, except for the fact that small manufacturers may leave the market, the expert believes. He predicts further growth in retail sales of supplements in monetary terms, while reducing in volume terms. An increase in the volume of sales of dietary supplements can be shown by marketplaces, since they have fewer requirements for the sale of such funds than for offline pharmacies, Mr. Shulyak believes.

A Kommersant source from a number of pharmaceutical retailers says that retail sales of supplements are growing due to private labels (PL) of pharmacies, which allows chains to sell them at significant discounts.

The share of private labels in the dietary supplements segment, according to DSM Group, now accounts for about 45%. Active promotion of supplements in retail, according to the All-Russian Union of Patients, has led to the fact that in 62% of cases pharmacists in pharmacies recommend these products, and in 15% of cases such drugs are not included by medical experts in the list of necessary drugs for this condition (see “Kommersant” dated June 25).

The growth in demand for dietary supplements from a hangover is also due to the fact that, according to the director of TSIFRRA Vadim Drobiz, “the culture of legal alcohol consumption is increasing in Russia”, which increased by 6% in 2018–2022. According to the Federal Agency for Alcohol and Tobacco Regulation, in January-July 2023, retail sales of alcoholic beverages, excluding beer, cider, mead, grew by 4% year-on-year, to 126.85 million decaliters. Thus, sales of cognac increased by 10%, to 7.49 million decaliters, alcoholic beverages with a strength of 25% – by 27.8%, to 7.63 million liters, still and sparkling wines – by 5.8%, to 42, 65 million gave.

Ekaterina Rakitina