What’s Selling is our monthly review of what our retailers nationwide say is selling well in their stores. This month, we’ve compiled all the data since April to see what’s been popular this quarter.
In Food, gluten-free (GF) dominated, even more than in past quarters. Every region reported that GF breads sold well, with GF baking mixes a close second. The kale trend may be leveling off, and the same may be happening with coconut products.
Beverages remained the same as in the past year, with kombucha selling well, and soda and bottled waters holding strong in popularity.
Essential oils, like lavender, peppermint, tea tree and apricot did well in every region in the HBC category, as did castile and bar soaps. Skin care was on everyone’s shopping lists this quarter, no doubt battling what effects the transitioning seasons and temperatures must have had on their skin. Moisturizers, BB creams, facial washes and sun block topped every region.
The biggest surprise came in the Supplements category. Diet aids, like green coffee bean extract and raspberry ketones were hardly reported, despite dominating this category in 2012. Instead, consumers were more interested in condition-specific formulas like those for insomnia, digestive balance, stress care and (the up-and-comer) liver health. Also on the rise is vitamin D3. Multivitamins remained the top-selling supplements in all regions.
Some new trends include natural laundry soaps and dryer aids, peanuts and peanut products, butter and chocolate-covered snacks, liver health supplements and packaged, hot breakfast foods.
Turning to the regions, the Northeast indulged in GF chocolate cake and other baking mixes, but made sure to stock up on dental hygiene products. Midwest had a calm quarter, buying lots of herbal teas, calming beverages and stress-care supplements. The most GF products were bought in the Northwest, along with sports and men’s supplements. The Southeast needed a boost from caffeinated drinks like RTD bottles of coffee and soda, and focused on local products, while the Southwest went the opposite direction with sleep aids and sparkling juices. The few reported diet aids surges were in the West along with facial creams, like BB, and aloe-based hand lotions. WF
Published in WholeFoods Magazine, June 2013
