Weight Management and Wellbeing in Uruguay

PROSPECTS

Uruguay’s high percentage of young people at risk of incurring heart disease due to weight issues boosts demand for weight management and wellbeing

Overweight and obesity are still key concerns in Uruguay, and that concern was reflected in higher sales of weight management and wellbeing products in the country in 2019. Supplement nutrition drinks, weight loss supplements and meal replacement all saw double-digit value growth over the year, and slimming teas gained traction as well.

Rising percentage of older Uruguayans prompts producers to focus on catering to their needs, with supplement nutrition drinks especially benefiting

As the percentage of Uruguayans aged 65 and over increases, various industries have been incentivised to adapt and launch more products and services catering to this audience; this trend has especially boosted development of supplement nutrition drinks. Supplement nutrition drinks saw the highest value growth in 2019, driven by Abbott Laboratorios Uruguay and the recent entry of Nestlé Uruguay.

Weight management products are expected to rise in tandem with efforts to alleviate obesity through better diets and more exercise

The Uruguayan government and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) are looking to construct a social and political consensus to prevent child obesity and reduce the future risk of chronic non-transmissible diseases, demonstrating the importance placed on the health of the country’s citizens. They are emphasising the poor consumption habits and inadequate diets among the population, which result in obesity in Uruguayans among all socioeconomic segments.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

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In 2019, Herbalife continued to lead sales of weight management and wellbeing in Uruguay with its dominant value shares in two categories: meal replacement and slimming teas. But it continued to lose value share in both categories as consumers increasingly turned to supplement nutrition drinks instead and also because the company reduced its advertising and marketing budget in 2018-2019.

Leading player Abbott Laboratorios gains share in supplement nutrition drinks, but new and/or smaller players are aggressively competing

Abbott Laboratorios Uruguay ranked second in the weight management and wellbeing category on the strength of its dominant position in supplement nutrition drinks. Supplement nutrition drinks are highly relevant for consumers, and can be found in stores such as chemists/pharmacies and via internet retailing.

Direct sellers is rapidly gaining ground from store-based players in this category

Whereas chemists/pharmacies and drugstores/parapharmacies accounted for the majority of weight management and wellbeing sales when the products first appeared in Uruguay decades ago, both of these channels consistently lost value share over the review period to direct selling, which accounted for nearly two thirds of the total value sales in 2019. Vitamins and dietary supplements specialist retailers is the only other channel that consistently gained value share within this category between 2014 and 2019.

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