By Jen Johnston, CHHC, senior marketing services account manager, for the Step into Natural blog series
Need another reason to step further into the natural products market? If you are still on the fence about the legitimacy of this industry, consider the number of acquisitions taking place between large, mainstream consumer products companies and niche natural brands. The fact that these companies are investing in the natural market speaks volumes about the mainstreaming of natural products.
While there were probably others before it, the acquisition of Burt’s Bees® by The Clorox Company eleven years ago, set a pattern in motion that has recently accelerated. Clorox saw natural products as a megatrend which was beginning to take hold and acquired the arguably most popular natural brand of the time.
Acquisitions of natural products by mainstream companies have accelerated since that time. In January of this year, Unilever completed its acquisition of Schmidt’s Naturals®, a natural deodorant brand founded in 2010 that has risen rapidly in popularity due in part to social media efforts and strong word of mouth. Schmidt’s can be found in retailers nationwide and has extended beyond deodorants to include toothpaste and soap.
Recently, Johnson & Johnson acquired Zarbee’s Naturals®, founded in 2007 as a honey-based throat product. Now the line includes immune support products along with vitamins and supplements. Zarbee’s is extremely popular with parents.
You can also look at retail and wholesale acquisitions. Amazon snagged Whole Foods last fall, and United Natural Foods (UNFI), a major natural products distributor announced in July that it would acquire Supervalu.
All these signs point to the growth of the natural products market. Don’t get left behind – make plans now to incorporate more natural products into your store.