Vitamins have long been the cornerstone of the nutrition industry. However, despite this year marking the 100th anniversary of the coining of the term “vitamin” by Polish-American biochemist Casimir Funk in 1912, the marketability of some of these nutritional superstars is currently lackluster at best.

It’s time to revitalize the vitamin market by discussing the many well established, but often less familiar, roles these nutrients play in human health, and by introducing some of the latest medical research findings.

And the timing is perfect. According to the 2011 Gallup Study of Nutrition Knowledge & Consumption, nearly four in 10 adults made a strong effort to consume more nutrients last year, up significantly from five years ago. Most importantly, Gallup reported there has been a dramatic increase in the number of consumers who believe vitamins are very effective in delivering serious health benefits. More than half (55%) of consumers now believe calcium/vitamin D is very effective for bone health; 34% think vitamin C is very effective for immunity.
 
Market Potential
According to Sloan Trends’ TrendSense model, while vitamins A, C and E are all well established mass-market opportunities, their marketability has been flat essentially for more than a decade. Although beta-carotene has long been “just shy” of reaching mass-market status, its marketability is also uninspiring. Importantly, Medical Counts/research activity—a key market driver—while at very high levels, has also remained status quo. 

In comparison, vitamin D stands as the proof of what can be done to re-invigorate basic nutrients. Vitamin D has skyrocketed over the past seven years to a very large Level 3 mass market, buoyed by the simultaneous crossover of bioavailability into the mass market at the same time as new research findings validated a bevy of important health linkages, including its role in bone health. Moreover, attention to vitamin D helped to shoot calcium back into the limelight.