News \ Food Supplements - N°66 organic food supplement sector to continue its growth. Only one thing remains unclear: what about the distribution? Will it be there to support the sector? Will it come with pro- posals? Will it be ready? ◗What What What What What It may appear iconoclastic, but all is not yet rosy (or rather green) on that side. In fact, if we take a look at the organic store channel, organic supplement sales only increased by 6.2%. That is four points less than the sales in pharmacies and drugstores. Nevertheless, organic stores are more entitled to offer organic supplements, because they are certi- fi ed to this end. Because they subscribe to a health prevention approach coveted by consu- mers and put forward by certain distributors: the Biocoop chain of organic stores aims to become a “health player” to use the words of Claude Gruffat, its CEO. ◗What about pharmacies and drugstores? 033 Certainly, the sales of organic supplements cumulated in these two channels have increased by almost 10%. But with €53 million, they merely account for 5.3% of the total sales in these two channels. They are also marked by a strong disparity: in drugstores, organic supplements sales account for 9.4%, while in pharmacies only for 4.6%. What are the reasons for such a difference - almost double fi gures in the former? They are multiple. Some of the leading segments of food supplements may be having diffi culties in launching organic ver- sions - sleeping/stress/sleeping (these formulas are dominated by synthetic molecules such as melatonin), vitality/immunity (sourcing of natural and organic vitamins, certifi ed ferments). Also, drugstores are doing well as in some segments, almost two out of 10 of the supplements sold benefi t from organic certifi cation (circulation for instance - in pharmacy, only one in 10 supple- ments). Inasmuch as pharmacy is a universe where counselling plays a major role, a ques- tion is to be raised: do pharmacists recommend organic supplements? Have they realised the potential of this universe? All these questions are yet to be answered...■ News on Functional & Health Ingredients \ N°66 \ January - February - March 2019 \ ■