When your customers come to you with a runny noses and a cough, don’t hid in hopes that you won’t get sick. Offer them some natural product to boost their immunity.
Immune health is a hot category. According to Business Insights, immune health and vitality are key drivers, especially in the functional and fortified food markets, as major companies channel resources into this area. However, supplements still rule the immune market.
Whether stocking foods or supplements, retailers must consider a few issues when selling products in the immune function category. The oft-discussed obstacle to consistent sales of immune products is the seasonal nature of consumer purchase patterns. "Part of the situation is that if consumers feel good they figure their immune system is OK and they don’t feel the need to take immune support products," said Jim Ritcheske, marketing manager at NOW Foods. "When we become run down, then we take immune support products for the purpose of helping the body defeat whatever ails us."
David Bergsma, president of Health Technology Resources, referring to his list of factors that interfere with immune health— stress, poor nutrition, toxins, infection and trauma—said, "If you look at the causes of immune decline, you can see that cold and flu season is not on the list as an immune system risk." He noted Americans are largely symptom-conditioned and respond to their bodies more reactively than proactively. "Educating the public about the risks should help retailers sell products year round to interested consumers."
Many immune product manufacturers are designing products to address year-round immune system needs. Dave Bunting, staff herbalist for Herb Pharm, reported Echinacea is taken both seasonally and year-round. "Seasonally, Echinacea is used to modulate the immune system at times of seasonal change and stress," he said, adding seasonal stressors affecting immune health include cold and wet weather, reduction in daylight and even increased pollen counts. "Echinacea's usefulness, however, is far broader than this single type of immune enhancing application. Traditionally, Echinacea has been used as an anti-inflammatory and blood and lymphatic cleanser with a reputation in various infections, skin conditions and insect stings. For herb-savvy customers familiar with the broader immune implications, Echinacea is used throughout the year whenever the need arises."
One concern with taking potent immune products regularly would be safety and dosing. Fred Zinos, Aloha Medicinals, said such a blend of mushroom polysaccharides as in Immune Assist 24/7™ (six mushrooms) can be taken at maintenance doses for indefinite periods of time. "Since the active compounds in medicinal mushrooms stay in the body a relatively short time, chances of 'overdosing' are almost non-existent," he explained. "When individuals sense a challenge to their normal state of well-being, they can either take more of the maintenance product or move up to higher strength products."
Same goes for Bevology's immune product, Immunity, which consists of effervescent tablets containing vitamin C, Echinacea and zinc. "Immunity is designed to be taken every day to keep your immune system strong so you don’t get sick," said Sierra Cooke, vice president of marketing at Bevology. "In the event you feel a cold coming on, we suggest two tablets per day." She assured each day the body will throw off the vitamins it doesn’t need. "The only vitamin in our product your body tends to store is vitamin E, which we put in very low levels."
A similar dosing and duration of use concern confronts silver users. However, Keith Moeller, director at American Biotech Labs said, "We have finished 20 safety and toxicity studies directly on our products, so the safety of the products even at high dosage levels is well established."
Due to its antimicrobial actions, silver products were historically used during acute infection; however, Moeller reported consumers use the products for specific events as well as for regular immune support. "We do have more than 200 studies and test series backing the effectiveness of our products in a number of uses, but the info is only listed to give our customers background data on the products, not for claims for uses," he said. "In other words, we can give out the data as background data on our products, but not for any claims for specific drug type uses."