Last week, my colleague Tom Pirovano wrote about how the economic downturn has slowed the growth of organic products to almost a standstill.   Looking at the broader health and wellness category, we are seeing similar patterns.  Grouping health and wellness claims Nielsen tracks through its LabelTrends service into three tiers based on annual growth rates, retailers and manufacturers will notice some interesting developments.

Tier 1 (15% to 26% annual sales growth): Just one claim – omega – showed any dollar growth in the last four weeks, racking up a more than 30 percent increase.  On a unit basis, products with flax or hemp seed, plant sterol, less sugar claims and probiotic claims showed poor performance in the last four- and thirteen week periods.

Tier 2 (8% to12%): There were less severe declines in this group, and with the exception of antioxidants, all of the categories continued to show growth, albeit more slowly, with “No MSG” leading the way with dollar growth of 12 percent in the last four weeks.

Tier 3 (-4% to 8%): Versus the other tiers and average food department growth rates, Tier 3 generally made up the worse performers.  Only products with reduced calorie claims performed better than average on dollar and unit terms, while cholesterol, soy and GMO-free products showed the sharpest declines.

With continued disturbing news about obesity in the U.S., as well as an aging population, health and wellness products should not be viewed by consumers as a luxury affordable only during strong economies.  The challenge for manufacturers and retailers is to drive sales and value messaging in addition to health claims to at the very least retain existing consumers and hopefully win new converts as well.

Earlier this month, Oprah discussed healthy living with her regular guest Dr. Mehmet Oz, who presented his “Ultimate Health Checklist,” which included three points about eating:

“Oprah’s ability to influence her audience’s behavior is legendary, and retailers should take note of these recommendations, as they may influence purchasing behavior across the U.S. Our LabelTrends service, which tracks health claims of nearly every food product that passes through U.S. cash registers, will analyze data for these foods later this year; if we see a significant spike in sales of the products highlighted on the show, we may be able to attribute that to Oprah,” said Tom Pirovano, Director of Industry Insight at Nielsen.

Private label dollar sales are being driven primarily by higher commodity pricing — especially in staple categories that are dominated by private brands. But in recent weeks, private label unit sales have also grown — a sign that consumers are starting to shift away from established brands in search of better deals.

Among private label food brands, flour (+35%), baby food (+33%), and fresh eggs (+28.2%) showed the largest dollar percent change during the 52 weeks ending September 6, compared with the prior 52-week period.  Unit sales for those products remained flat during the same period: flour was up 7.2%, fresh eggs dropped 0.9%, and pasta grew by 0.6%.

Among non-food private label products, soaps and bath products (+23%), cough and cold remedies (+18%), and hair care products (+18%) showed the largest dollar sales growth during the period.  Paper products, like paper plates, paper towels, and toilet tissue, and aluminum foil were the top-selling non-food private label items. 

Across categories, health and wellness-oriented private brands also showed significant growth, according to Nielsen.  Products claiming to be “natural” (+11.4%) or “organic” (+22.5%), lacking in trans fat or saturated fat (+30.5%), or containing “multi-grains” (+16.6%) or “antioxidants” (+15.8%) showed the largest dollar sales growth during the period.  Products that claimed to contain no calories (-0.6%) or to be caffeine free (-2.2%) showed the only negative growth. 

Among organic private label items, milk, eggs, and produce – like mini carrots and salad mixes — were the top-selling items.

View in depth private label sales data from Nielsen.

Learn more about private label sales in convenience stores.

Read more about overall private label trends in Nielsen’s “Consumer Insight” newsletter.