Source: LOHAS Weekly Newsletter
Published: Friday, October 01, 1999

SAN FRANCISCO—Is SAM-E, the new arthritis and depression supplement, a magic bullet, perhaps the next St. John’s wort for vitamins and supplements companies in the natural products industry?

Natural products data monitoring firm SPINS, based here, cautions that data are just now coming in and it’s too early to tell, but some of the signs look promising. According to SPINS data, natural products supermarkets show sales for SAM-E of $237,800 to date, up 2,900% since its introduction in the U.S., which was in March. According to a recent Time magazine story SAM-E is now the forthmost popular supplement in drug store chains and general retail outlets. SPINS says that sales of SAM-E in July alone accounted for 35% of the total for the year.

In comparison, sales of “star” supplement St. John’s wort in natural products supermarkets over the 12-month period ending July 1999 were $15.4 million, up 26% from the previous 12-months. However, the market for the product for the last six months of the period saw an overall decline. Sales of St. John’s wort in January were $1.4 million, declined to $1.2 million in February, (a loss of 15%), rose to $1.3 million in March, stayed flat in April, fell to $1 million in May (a loss of 17%), and stayed relatively flat in June and July.

SPINS also says that sales of St. John’s wort were showing more serious declines during the period that are partially masked by strong sales of St. John’s wort-enhanced juices and other beverages that consumers pay significantly more for per dose than they do for the capsule or tablet form per dose.

SPINS tracked sales of St. John’s wort across a number of consumer categories including herbal singles, herbal formulas, teas, diet formulas, shelf-stable juices and drinks, therapeutic topical remedies, sodas, and refrigerated juices.

SPINS also says that its numbers for SAM-E sales growth coincide with the January-through-July period of St. John’s wort sales declines. But SPINS notes that since the total sales of SAM-E are significantly lower than the losses for St. John’s wort for the same period, no direct connection can be made between the two.

Greg Miller, a spokesperson for Pittsburgh-based General Nutrition Centers, does offer an apples-to-apples comparison of the two supplements. Miller says that GNC’s sales of SAM-E for the first six to nine months of its availability are outpacing the company’s sales of St. John’s wort for the first six to nine months of its availability.

Savvy marketers will want to stay tuned to see whether this new supplement can serve as a savior to the supplements side of the business.