Consumer-Driven Evolution :: Environmental and Health Concerns

Consumer-Driven Evolution
by author Michelle Hancock

What was once considered a fringe industry has now become a mega money-maker—no surprise to alive readers. Drop into any drugstore or supermarket and you’ll find energy drinks and organics where you once found cigarettes.

What more evidence do we need than Wal-Mart’s determination to become a leading seller in Canada’s $1-billion organic industry? At the time this article was written, the discount heavyweight was scouting for suppliers to fill its 272 Canadian stores and the seven planned Ontario superstores that will sell groceries, including fresh produce and perishables.

Canadians spend $2.5 billion a year on natural health products. A recent study cosponsored by the Canadian Health Food Association found that this sector employs 25,000 people in about 2,700 health food retailers, 650 stores with traditional Chinese medicines, and 7,600 pharmacies. Then there’s the Internet, a virtual mall teeming with health companies selling thousands of wares and services.

This is a $30-billion industry in North America and we have access to over 42,000 products.

But it doesn’t have to be overwhelming, says Judy Hamilton, a health food store manager in Grande Prairie, Alberta. “That’s what we’re here for,” she says, hitting on just one consumer issue in this ever-evolving industry.

New and Familiar Faces

Judy has managed the Health Hut since 1987 and owned a health food store for 15 years before that. That’s 35 years of watching faces and needs change. “The main things we sold back then were wheat germ, apple cider vinegar, and molasses. Adelle Davis was pretty much our only reference book,” she recalls. “Now natural health information is mainstream. It’s in magazines and on TV. Vitamin companies advertise everywhere. And the percentage of people visiting an alternative health care person in addition to their doctor is huge. In 1972 half of one percent of people used supplements.”

By 2001 the percentage of Canadians using natural health products had swollen to 75 percent. Plus, Statistics Canada notes that more than five million of us visit alternative practitioners such as chiropractors, massage therapists, and acupuncturists.

The most recent Baseline Natural Health Products Survey Among Consumers, released by Health Canada in March 2005, confirms that complementary medicine and its accoutrements are here to stay.

Thirty-eight percent of us use natural products daily, 37 percent use them seasonally, and 11 percent use them weekly. Our main reasons are “personal health concerns and the desire to promote personal health.”

Vitamins, herbal remedies (especially echinacea), algae, and antifungal products top the official most popular list. Back at the Health Hut in Prairie Mall, weight loss, energy, and immune enhancement products are also hot sellers.

Let’s not forget old faithfuls like vitamin B-complex, vitamin C, and the multi. “Most families realize everybody needs a vitamin supplement because food isn’t what it used to be,” says Judy.

“I enjoy being able to help people with their health issues,” she adds. “It never gets boring because there are always new products and remedies coming out.”

The Informed Message

More choice is good news for consumers, agrees Deane Parkes, health food retail consultant and president of Preferred Nutrition, a vitamin distribution company. “Back in the 70s, there were no soy milks, no rice milks,” he recalls. “Body care was, like, one shampoo. Natural chips were limited. Now you could have a 40-foot section of chips alone.”

After reading a book on yoga, Deane embarked on a health food lifestyle in 1972, bought a store in 1975, and has since worked in virtually every aspect of the industry.

One recent challenge, he notes, is conflicting media messages. “One day, you hear XYZ is good for you; the next day, it’s not. You hear organic food isn’t better than conventional. The consumer at the other end of the messages is going, ‘Is this true?’ Still, consumers nowadays are mostly in their fifties and their BS meters are pretty good. We’ve been around a while. A good majority have the education to take the responsibility to look at things.”

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Vancouver writer Michelle Hancock is something of a dummy at supplement shopping, so she relies heavily on the suggestions at her local health food store. Reach her through editorial@alive.com.

Source: alive #293, March 2007

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