Vitamins in the Netherlands

PROSPECTS

Strong demand for vitamin D, no longer covered by basic health insurance

Vitamins continued to experience stagnating demand in 2019 with low current value growth, due to the rising presence of private label, particularly within single vitamins. However, to create interest amongst the local population, major players attempted to add value by targeting specific consumer groups through segmentation such as men, women, children, athletes and older citizens.

Increasing segmentation to attract specific consumer groups and drive value growth

Other areas of segmentation within vitamins include athletes with leading online sports nutrition player Body & Fit Sportsnutrition BV expanding into vitamins with its own range of products that target bodybuilders and athletes for both men and women. As a crossover, the player offers Body & Fit Vegan D3 vitamins, targeting a very specific group of consumers, not only with the offer of vitamin D which continues to experience strong demand but also by offering a product of vegetable origins, with Vitamin D3 helping to maintain strong bones and flexibility in terms of muscle function.

Concerns over high levels of vitamin B6 call for stricter regulation

On the other hand, concerns surrounding high doses of vitamin B6 and its negative effects such as damaging the nervous system, led to a warning from leading consumer watchdog organisation De Consumentenbond in December 2018, claiming that 23 different vitamin products were found to contain more than the permitted level of B6 on the market. This led to a change in regulations, with the daily dosage of vitamin B6 being legally limited to 21mg from 1 October 2018.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Omega Pharma retains leadership but loses ground in multivitamins to more dynamic players

Omega Pharma Nederland BV retained its leadership of vitamins in 2019 although it continued to lose value share to a number of strongly-performing players. However, its Davitamon brand continued to lead both multivitamins and single vitamins with a stronger performance in the latter, as it gained some ground from competitors such as Roter.

Procter & Gamble’s aggressive marketing of Swisse leads to greater share gain

Procter & Gamble Nederland BV continued to be one of the strongest performers in 2019, as it gained further value share in multivitamins following aggressive marketing and promotion for its Swisse brand. The company enlists well-known international celebrities to star in its advertisements to increase brand recognition, with 2019 seeing the brand run a commercial featuring Australian actor Chris Hemsworth to promote Swisse Ultivite promoting its natural ingredients and using the tagline “Swisse, the Quest continues”.

Online player Body & Fit records strongest performance in value terms

Relatively new online players such as Body & Fit Sportsnutrition BV continued to enter and make an impression on the category, with the latter gaining further value share in 2019 in addition to recording the highest current value growth overall. With notable brand recognition in other consumer health categories such as sports nutrition, the player is rapidly gaining attention from consumers for its single vitamins under the Body & Fit line, targeting athletes, bodybuilders and vegans with a range of segmented products, while also offering multivitamins such as Iron + Vitamin C.

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