Parents have been pushing supplements on their kids for as long as vitamins have been available. Adults know these pills and powers enhance diets that lack necessary nutrients; these less-than-stellar eating habits have become quite common among American children. Adults know better, but kids, well, they don’t always see the long-term health benefit of downing a multivitamin, especially if it tastes bad.
Bayer addressed this issue back in 1968, when it made Flintstones children’s vitamins, called Chocks, available to the greater public. Chocks were shaped like the popular Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters—Fred, Barney, Wilma—and provided necessary vitamins to kids. They were innovative at the time; but, today, most kids want something a little tastier than Chocks, and parents want effective delivery forms. James Gibbons, president, Nature's Plus, said, “Consumers are becoming more savvy. No longer can you slap a cute label and tasty flavors on a mediocre supplement and expect it to be well received. Health-conscious consumers demand natural ingredients, superior quality for maximum activity, complete vitamin and mineral nutrition, and a trustworthy and reliable brand.”
Over the years, vitamin manufacturers have found gummies to be an effective delivery system for vitamins, and one that kids will actually enjoy. These help parents feel their children receive adequate nutrition, and kids swallow them without throwing temper tantrums—another bonus to parents. Nowadays, even the Flintstones vitamins come in a chewable form.
“The driving factor is kids enjoy the gummies, and therefore parents have no trouble getting their kids to ‘take their vitamins,’” said Kurt Althof, director of marketing, Coral LLC.
The benefits for parents don’t stop there, as many employed the one-for-you, one-for-me mentality with their kids’ gummies. If it tastes good and provides vitamins, why shouldn’t parents take them too? Manufacturers listened, and have begun rolling out gummies for adults, with more mature packaging and higher nutrient levels.