Vitamins in Spain

2021 DEVELOPMENTS

Products with immune boosting credentials are the best performers in 2021

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the best performing products and brands in vitamins during 2021 were those with an explicit immune boosting positioning. While the COVID-19 pandemic has sharpened the focus of Spanish people on their health generally, the desire to avoid falling seriously ill with a severe case of COVID-19 has motivated very many Spanish people to prioritise the strengthening of the immune system within their general attempts to improve their general health.

Vitamins B benefits from lifestyle changes and emerging dietary needs

Recent years have seen increasing numbers of Spaniards altering their diets to exclude specific types of foods, partially in an attempting to follow a more nutritious diet as part of a healthier lifestyle, and partially for ethical reasons. It is important to note that these dietary changes are not intended solely to help contribute to weight loss, although this is often a welcome effect of excluding highly processed foods that are high in fat and/or sugar from the diet.

Growth in online sales unlikely to continue as consumers support local retailers

One of the most important outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic for Spain’s retailing industry has been the dramatic shift towards online sales that was seen in numerous product categories as soon as the threat of contagion motivated huge numbers of consumers to avoid going out wherever possible at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020. While this applied to vitamins to some extent, it is not expected that online sales vitamins will continue to increase substantially during the forecast period.

PROSPECTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Economic recession likely to continue placing pressure on category sales

According to the latest data published by the OECD, Spain’s is among those that have been hardest hit by the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, it is not expected that a return to strong positive growth will be seen in Spain’s economy before the end of the forecast period, with the recovery of the national economy from the COVID-19 pandemic likely to be slow and protracted rather than rapid and dynamic.

The ageing of the Spanish population set to be highly influential

One of the most important socioeconomic megatrends that continues to influence sales trends across a variety of fmcg industries in Spain Spanish is the ageing of the Spanish population. This is likely to prove positive for sales of vitamins during the forecast period for two reasons.

The emergence of telemedicine set to be crucial to the category’s development

The increasing use of telemedicine as a primary source of healthcare services has led to major changes being seen in the attitudes of Spanish consumers towards vitamins. Traditionally, Spaniards were generally uninterested in self-medicating with vitamins.