NACDS Total Store Expo In Brief: Pharmavite, i-Health, AllergEase, Xcentrika, Perfecta

Pharmavite offers new VitaMelts, gummies; i-Health expands menopause relief; AllergEase has sweet relief; Novarnica sprays pain relief; Mederma PM lessens scars at night; Perfecta moves into pain relief; Hyland’s extends Defend, repackages 4Kids; B’IOTA combats thinning locks; and Manuka delivers antibacterial properties.

Pharmavite offers new gummies, VitaMelts

[Pharmavite LLC] expands its Nature Made VitaMelts line and its adult gummies line with new flavors and vitamin combinations. The VitaMelts line now includes a Multi with 100% daily value of vitamins A, B, C and E and 1,000 IU of vitamin D per three-tablet serving. The line also includes a Hair, Skin & Nails extension formulated with 2,500 mcg Biotin and 60 mg vitamin C, which support collagen production, according to marketing materials. The product is aimed at consumers who are caring for aging parents and starting to think about taking better care of themselves, said communications executive Douglas Jones at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ Total Store Expo in Las Vegas Aug. 12. The VitaMelts Multi sells for a suggested retail price of $5.99 for 40 tablets and Hair, Skin & Nails sells for $8.99 for 60 tablets. The new gummies include Immune Complex with Zinc for $5.49, Multi+Omega-3 for $9.89 and Energy B12 for $4.87, Jones said. The extensions are “all about really trying to change the vitamin experience,” so that consumers like taking their vitamins rather than seeing them as a chore, Jones said (Also see "With Nature Made Launches, Pharmavite Wants To Be Part Of Consumers’ Routines" - Pink Sheet, 16 Jul, 2012.). The products are slated to ship and appear at retail stores this fall.

Pharmavite expands its Nature Made VitaMelts line with two new products: Hair, Skin & Nails and Multi.

Image courtesy of Pharmavite LLC

Pharmavite also added magnesium to several products, including Magnesium Bone Complex for $8.79, which shipped May 10 and combines magnesium and vitamins D and K2 to help build strong bones when taken with calcium. Magnesium Citrate for $6.97, which is a more absorbable form of magnesium, and Magnesium Maximum Strength for $7.82 for people diagnosed with low magnesium, also launched in April, Jones said. He said magnesium “is a hot category” because many people do not eat enough fruits and vegetables and are lacking in the nutrient.

I-Health expands menopause relief

[i-Health Inc.], a division of Royal DSM NV, launches and re-positions products to ease menopause symptoms: Estroven Weight Management, i-cool Bone Builder+D and i-cool wipes to ease hot flashes. Chris Halliday, senior director of marketing at DSM, said Estroven Weight Management “is a one-of-its-kind product that has a weight benefit with menopausal benefits” and targets the extra belly fat that some women gain during menopause. It is formulated with Synetrim CQ, a proprietary herbal blend that includes an African flower, to balance serotonin to help with hunger. It also includes black cohosh and soy isoflavones to reduce hot flashes. A month’s supply sells for a suggested retail price between $17 and $22. The product will be positioned in the menopause category and is not going after “crash dieters,” Halliday said. The firm will support it with TV ads that focus on shrinking the waistline.

The firm also repositioned i-cool Bone Builder+D to promote the bone building benefits and lowered the price point for a month’s supply from the $30 range to the $22 range, Halliday said. The i-cool wipes, a new category for the firm, come in a discrete pack that a woman can access for immediate relief by patting herself with a lightly citrus-scented wipe, he said. The wipes are alcohol free and sell for $7 for 30 wipes.

AllergEase has sweet relief

AllergEase Inc. says it has sold more than $1.5 million of its all natural allergy relief lozenges since entering the highly competitive allergy relief category in April, prompting the firm to extend its portfolio to include a children’s product, a new pomegranate lozenge and extra-strength and sugar-free lozenges. In February 2014, the Danville, Va., firm will launch AllergEase children’s lollipops in honey lemon and mixed berry. The lollipops have the same health properties as the lozenges that launched in April 2013, but in a format that appeals to children, Chief Financial Officer Nancy Wong said at the NACDS event. The products include nettles and plantain as antihistamines, elderflower as a decongestant, eyebright for itchy eyes, menthol to ease sore throats and a “nice vitamin C kick just to keep your immune system up,” Wong said. The firm also plans to launch four new lozenges in Fall 2014: extra-strength honey lemon, extra-strength and sugar-free pomegranate products and sugar-free citrus lemon. The lollipops sell for a suggested retailed price of $7.99, which is slightly more than $5.99 lozenges because the manufacturing is more expensive. Both forms are in 21-count boxes, a week’s supply at the recommended dose level, according to the firm. AllergEase will support the launches with in-store coupons, sampling, temporary price reductions, product giveaways, promotional displays and an active social media campaign, Wong said.

Novarnica sprays pain relief

Canadian firm Xcentrika prepares for a U.S. launch, with an undetermined timeline, of its natural painkiller Novarnica, a spray formula that combines arnica, menthol, camphor and eucalyptus. A spokesman for the firm said the product’s formulation is 100% natural, with 20% arnica Montana – “the highest percentage of the ingredient on the market.” He said with three to four sprays on the affected body part, users will feel relief in 10 to 15 seconds. The formula penetrates skin without rubbing so users do not get their hands greasy, as with a gel or cream, he said. Walgreens and CVS confirmed at Total Store Expo that they will carry the product, which launched in Canada in January 2013, the spokesman said. Xcentrika will support the U.S. launch with the TV ad campaign it runs in Canada, featuring a cartoon boxer punching a man’s back muscles until a spray of Novarnica knocks out the boxer with the tagline “Novarnica: stronger than pain.”

Mederma PM lessens scars at night

Merz Pharmaceuticals LLCis investing $10 million to market its Mederma PM overnight scar cream that launches in January 2014, says senior brand manager Emily Klopp. The Frankfurt, Germany-based firm will rely heavily on cable TV advertising aimed at females 10 to 49 years old. But it also will run print ads in major women’s magazines, as well as online search engine marketing and social media. The ads will play up the key ingredient Tripeptol with collagen and peptides that work with the skin’s naturally increased regenerative activity at night, Klopp said. She expects the product, which is stain-free and absorbed quickly, to fit easily into users’ nighttime routines to help reduce discoloration and improve texture and appearance of old and new scars. It will sell for a suggested retail price of $25 for a 1-ounce container in the first aid category and $35 for a 1.7- ounce container in the skin care category. While the price includes a slight premium, Klopp said nighttime-use products are trending up, with Google searches for “night cream” up more than 300% in the past six years. A company study also suggested 43% more consumers expressed a very strong purchase interest in the product compared to category norms.

Perfecta moves into pain relief

Perfecta Products Inc. is “not just about cracked skin anymore” with its Zim’s Crack Creme as the firm launches two new naturally based lines at the NACDS event. In an Aug. 7 release, the North Lima, Ohio, firm said Zims Advanced with Hydrocortisone sold in a 3-ounce cream and 3.25-ounce continuous spray relieves rashes, bug bites, eczema and psoriasis, according to the release. Zims Advanced Gel with acemannan, a compound in aloe vera leaves, can soothe cuts, scrapes and burns, according to the release. Pricing for the Zims Advanced products was not available. Zims Arnica Max, a pain reliever with arnica, aloe vera and menthol, sells for a suggested retail price of $9.99 for the 4-ounce gel or 3-ounce roll-on, which the firm says is significantly less than other arnica products. It will be in stores by the end of 2013, the firm says.

Hyland’s extends Defend, repackages 4Kids

Hyland’s brings a homeopathic liquid cold and flu product to adults with Defend Severe Cold & Flu, launched in July. “Many people are very accustomed to the traditional cough and cold medicines as liquids,” but there are few homeopathic products in that form, said Mary Borneman, director of corporate communications and public affairs. Defend Severe Cold & Flu, a powder added to hot water to help fill that market gap, comes in a form that is soothing and helps relieve the chills associated with colds, she said. The ingredients also help relieve congestion, runny nose, fever and body ache, she said. The new product sells for a suggested retail price of $12.99 for eight packets.

Hyland’s also revamped packaging for its 4Kids and baby product lines to make them “pop on store shelves,” Borneman said. In June, the firm rolled out a consistent design for Hyland’s 4Kids products that features a cartoon boy and his teddy bear Stanley. The packs also move 4Kids underneath the Hyland’s name but before the indication. Previously, 4Kids came after Sniffles ‘n Sneezes, Cough ‘n Cold and other descriptors. The firm also replaced on Hyland’s baby packs the single-tone, shaded picture of an infant with a photo to better reflect actual consumers, Borneman said. A leaf-shaped flag on the box also better emphasizes that the products provide natural relief. Accompanying the new packages are new sizes.

B’IOTA combats thinning locks

The B’IOTA Botanicals line targets a concern for many aging women – thinning hair – using natural plant-derived ingredients, “many of which date back to ancient Mesopotamia and have long been part of European beauty secrets and body care rituals from the distant past,” according to Greenwich, Conn.-based B’IOTA International LLC. Used as a system, the brand’s herbal hair care products nourish the scalp and root to repair, strengthen and thicken hair, delivering noticeable results in 30 days in a six-month clinical study. Products displayed at the NACDS event included Extra Strength Herbal Shampoo, recently reformulated with a double dose of active ingredient Bioxsine – $14.99; and Herbal Conditioner, $9.99, which softens and provides control and shine. B’IOTA also offers herbal shampoo in normal/dry, oily and dandruff-control varieties, each priced at $9.99, as well as Advanced Herbal Serum, at $34.99. B’IOTA products are available at select retailers and online at Amazon.com, CVS.com and drugstore.com.

Manuka honey delivers antibacterial properties

Manuka Health offers online in the U.S. and Canada two sizes of wound dressings and breast pads made with solid state Medical Grade MGO 400+ Manuka honey and glycerin gel sheets. Barry Cowen, the firm’s market manager for North America, Europe and Middle East, said the wound dressings are 2 inches by 3 inches and 4 inches by 4 inches and claim to absorb three times the dressing weight, promote a moisture-balanced environment, reduce pain and odor and promote healthy healing, according to marketing materials. The premium-priced products do not stick to wounds, thus reducing “trauma during dressing changes,” the firm notes. The breast pads offer the same benefits and “encourage new mums to keep breast feeding,” Cowen said at the NACDS event. He explained Manuka honey is unique to New Zealand and has up to 800 mg/kg of methylglyoxal compared to other honeys that have 0-5 mg/kg. The higher proportion of methylglyoxal gives the honey antibacterial properties and encourages cells to rejuvenate more quickly than other antibacterial wound treatments on the OTC market. The firm, which began selling online this year, has a fulfillment center in New Jersey and seeks placement in retailers, Cowen added.