As part of COVID-19 social distancing measures, many companies have moved towards home working. While helping businesses to continue operating, this practice is having silent repercussions on the lives of Chilean consumers lives, with the average time spent in front of electronic screens massively increasing since the outbreak. Eye strains are becoming regular among employees, resulting in annoying eye redness and dryness.

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Digestive remedies are the largest product area among consumer health products in Egypt and value sales are driven by unhealthy diets, as well as unhygienic standards in many foodservice outlets. COVID-19 benefitted digestive remedies and it is expected to register double-digit value growth in 2020. However, this is not as high as value growth over the review period, though a lot of value growth over the review period has been driven by inflationary pressure. However, digestive remedies are…

Digestive remedies sales in Chile stagnated in 2020, with most consumers instead focussing on more essential health care needs. Although diarrhoea and stomach-aches are potential COVID-19 symptoms, they are relatively uncommon, with digestive products thus having secondary importance among Chilean consumers. Considering the unstable economic situation and rising unemployment, Chileans are limiting expenditure to basic needs like paracetamol, cough and cold remedies, and vitamin C in order to…

Although the category had already seen double-digit growth in all years of the review period, dietary supplements is expected to see a slightly stronger current value increase in 2020. As in vitamins, consumers believed that certain dietary supplements would be useful for boosting their immunity to protect them from COVID-19, and turned to these in the first half of the year. As most consumers of dietary supplements are older, and as older consumers are amongst those hit the hardest by the…

While equal in value sales terms to vitamins, dietary supplements is set to continue to outperform vitamins in 2020. This is a continuation of a trend witnessed towards the end of the review period due to growing awareness and availability of a wide range of dietary supplements, which encouraged consumers to invest in these products alongside a healthy diet and exercise. This stems from the fact that consumers have become increasingly interested in understanding how dietary supplements fill…

Similar to vitamins, many products in the dietary supplements category saw a much-improved performance in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Products offering greater immune function saw increased demand as consumers adopted preventative strategies regarding their health, and efforts to resist the virus. This particularly benefitted combination dietary supplements, which offer convenience, as well as ginseng, fish oils/omega fatty acids, and mineral supplements. As stockpiling led to…

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic led to increased demand for dietary supplements, with the category registering strong sales growth over the course of the year. In particular, consumers become increasingly interested in dietary supplements with an immunity positioning, as well as those which are known to improve general health. This meant that echinacea, beta-glucan, calcium and zinc all benefited from increased consumer interest during the second and third quarters of the year, with the…

The COVID-19 pandemic increased demand for immune system-boosting products as consumers took an increasingly preventative approach to healthcare. Most dietary supplements categories saw higher growth in 2020 than in 2019 as a result. Echinacea saw an improved performance due to its cold and flu prevention functions, which resulted in high demand for products such as Blackmores Cold Combat and Blackmores Echinacea Forte 3000. Probiotic supplements also benefited for the same reasons.…

After seeing strong current value growth rates during most of the review period, in 2020 dietary supplements is set to see a strong slowdown in its growth rate in 2020. However, performances are expected to vary widely across the category. For instance, supplements which are set to show higher growth rates are those related to the immune system. As also seen in vitamins, consumers have been keen to take supplements which boost their immune system to try and avoid contracting COVID-19, or at…

While herbal/traditional products is predicted to record healthy current value growth in 2020 supported by higher than average unit prices, volume growth for many of its categories is set to slow due to increasing price sensitivity as a result of the pandemic. Nevertheless, demand for many herbal/traditional products including herbal/traditional topical analgesics, herbal/traditional dermatologicals, herbal/traditional digestive remedies and herbal/traditional sleep aids is still expected to…

Prior to the emergence of COVID-19 in the United Arab Emirates, consumers were already becoming increasingly exposed to digital screens due to working adults sometimes spending eight hours or more in front of a laptop or computer screen, strong use of mobile phones to access social media or gaming amongst younger generations in addition to large-screen televisions for home entertainment or bright advertising screens in and around shopping centres. Moreover, schooling sees students and…

Indigestion and heartburn remedies is the dominant value category within digestive remedies in the United Arab Emirates. Prior to the pandemic, consumers faced stomach upsets and other digestive issues on a continuous basis, driven by the population’s typically fast-paced and modern urban lifestyles, which involve eating out regularly, overeating unhealthy foods, sometimes at irregular hours, and a lack of exercise. In addition, the high prevalence of lifestyle diseases such as high blood…

Traditionally, the United Arab Emirates is a very image-conscious society where many citizens have become increasingly focused on their appearance, driven in part by the selfie culture and social media, but also driven by a corporate culture of looking one’s best in the workplace. This trend has led to consumers paying greater attention to their skin and hair, encouraging dedicated skin care routines, a greater focus on their diet and other factors such as sun exposure. They also visited…

Following the emergence of COVID-19 in the United Arab Emirates and the initial stages of the lockdown, only essential stores such as grocery retailers and chemists/pharmacies were allowed to remain open, resulting in consumers rushing to stock up on various cough and cold remedies in order to be better prepared to treat symptoms of a possible COVID-19 infection. The initial months of lockdown benefited more obscure and local players since stock of international brands were quickly…

Consumer health in the United Arab Emirates is set to record a positive performance in 2020, with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic contributing as one of the major reasons for the growth. However, overall demand for many categories is set to be more subdued after initial stockpiling during lockdown in Q1 considering the recessionary macroeconomic pressures on the industry. These include an expected contraction in the population as residency in the country is linked to employment and…

The emergence of COVID-19 caused a great deal of damage to the overall retailing landscape in Q1 2020, with a number of lockdown measures starting in March requiring residents to obtain police permits even to visit a grocery store. While lockdown measures started to be relaxed from April 24, strict social distancing requirements lasted until May 28. In addition, during this period, mass employment resulted in population contraction by at least 10%, which has significantly reduced the…

In 2020, soup has seen stronger retail volume growth than witnessed for several years, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with even higher current value growth due to price rises. In response to the emergence of the virus, the government asked people to work from home where possible, and closed schools. This has led to more lunches being eaten at home, including soup. Meanwhile, the limits imposed on the capacity of foodservice outlets and the requirement for social distancing…

The closure of offices and home seclusion due to COVID-19 have had a negative impact on sales of shelf stable soup. Most commonly sold in beverage cans and found in the vending channel and convenience store chains, shelf stable soup has suffered from people not commuting or spending time outside. However, the increased demand for convenient products to cook at home is offsetting this negative impact. Instant soup has also seen some negative impact from office closures, as instant soup cups,…

The advent of COVID-19 has led to increased demand for retail soup in Australia, with the category posting volume sales growth in 2020 having been in consistent decline in recent years. At the start of the lockdown, consumers stockpiled shelf stable soup in particular, despite soup being traditionally more of a winter meal. Because of the long use-by dates, shelf stable soup and dehydrated soup, which have been in decline in volume and value terms due to consumers’ negative perception of…

Sauces, dressings and condiments has registered stronger retail volume growth in 2020 than in any other year of the review period, with an even higher current value growth rate due to price rises. With the emergence of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the government encouraged consumers to work from home where possible, whilst educational establishments were shut for several months to try and limit the spread of the virus. This has led to more time spent at home, and therefore more home…