Around the world Blackmores’ products are sold by healthcare professionals including naturopaths, in pharmacies and health food stores. They are also retailed through mass merchants, supermarkets and distributors.
Approximately 85% of the company’s sales are from the Australian business, with the international business’ impact increasing annually and the ASEAN region representing a significant opportunity for Blackmores.
The growth in modern, fast paced lifestyles and an increasing focus on preventative health and wellbeing are key drivers for growth in the VHMS industry across the markets that we operate. This has been magnified recently with the widespread economic uncertainty and global health concerns.
We are seeing a strong social trend towards consumers taking a greater responsibility for their own health. This is driven both by consumer pull and government push, as the need to restructure healthcare budgets becomes a pressing priority.
Across the regions, generally, we see a high level of cultural acceptance of vitamins and dietary supplements. There is a growing emergence of common key health condition concerns including arthritis, heart and cholesterol, stress, fatigue, sleep and eye health.
Our research suggests our customers do not consider vitamins a discretionary spend, but an integral component of their “self-care” regime, and they look to invest in reliable products they know they can trust.
As complementary medicines continue to become more mainstream, and more research is invested towards them, we are exited to the see the increasing body of evidence emerging to support benefits such as:
- Vitamin D and fish oil/omegas for a range of conditions
- Iodine for children’s cognitive development
- Probiotics for digestive health
- Plant sterols for cholesterol management
The registration process and regulatory environment in each of our markets is unique, meaning we cannot sell a homogenous product range throughout the region.