Food supplements, sales exceed 4 billion euros: annual revenue of 1,099 million

Vitamins and mineral salts, probiotics and supplements to support immune function. These are the most popular food supplements offered and sold by companies that generate over 4 billion euros in sales in our country and employ more than 51 thousand people, almost half of whom are women. Germano Scarpa, president of Integratori & Salute, the sector association of Unionfood, speaks of it as "a solid and mature market where consumers are increasingly confident in using these products, take them frequently and also methodically because they are convinced that through consumption they can more easily maintain their state of health". Among the preferred purchasing channels are the pharmacy and the parapharmacy where over 80% of the products are purchased, because it is "a conscious consumption, guided by health professionals", explains Scarpa.

The numbers of the sector are contained in a research that was carried out with the technical and methodological support of PwC Italia with which the association has created an unprecedented analysis on the economic impact that the sector is able to generate. Well, it emerged that in our market Italian companies are a point of reference with 60% being national, 24% with foreign capital while 16% are multinationals with Italian capital. The research was carried out with 2023 data, reworking the balance sheets of over 15,000 Italian capital companies active in the pharmacy, parapharmacy and large-scale retail channels and those of the Italian companies associated with Unionfood that produce and distribute supplements in Italy and abroad.

Regardless of its size, the sector has its own capacity to generate wealth and jobs. Considering the numbers, the report by Integratori & salute and PwC calculates that for 1 million euros of value of the national retail market of supplements, on average 1.13 million euros of GDP are generated, 0.27 million euros are contributed to tax revenue and 12.7 jobs are created for a year. After all, it is a sector where there is a strong aptitude for innovation and investment. 86% of companies have an R&D unit, 8 out of 10 companies have active research collaborations, mainly with universities or academic research institutes. Looking ahead, according to what companies say, investments will be increasingly oriented towards identifying new formulations (84%), digitizing business processes (68%), training staff (62%) and expanding distribution (48%).

The analysis data tell of a healthy sector from an economic, social and employment point of view. Starting from the sales in value which, in 2023, in the three channels analyzed were 4,091 million euros excluding VAT. Also considering VAT, the sector generated 4,626 million euros of GDP. This result was influenced by the supply chains and the economy generated by the consumption of income from work distributed by the sector. At a direct level, pharmacies, parapharmacies and large-scale retail trade generated 911 million euros of added value, through the sales of supplements whose internal demand was mainly satisfied by the companies associated with Integratori & Salute. The production or sales business units in fact recorded 2,754 million euros of turnover in supplements, including exports, and 781 million euros of added value. Finally, from a fiscal point of view, the supplement sector, as a whole, generated an annual revenue of 1,099 million euros in 2023.

From the analysis carried out by integrators and health and PwC, it emerges that the workers in the supply chain, between direct and indirect, are 51,719 employed: about half of these, 25,805, are women. Going into the detail of female employment, in pharmacies, parapharmacies and large-scale retail trade companies, 77% of the employed (8,696 Ula) who deal with supplements are women. In intermediate production and distribution, the data changes and the share drops to 53% of women (3 thousand). Finally, in the areas that concern additional suppliers of the supply chain and operators involved, women employed are 41% of the workforce (about 14,109 Ula).