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PharmaCare might not have instant name recognition, but from its Nature’s Way vitamin gummies to its head lice treatment KP24, the company’s products are a dominant force in the nation’s pharmacies.
The Sydney-headquartered health goods maker has grown to a portfolio of more than 20 products over the past three decades, and is still in expansion mode. Earlier this year, the business confirmed it was adding protein ball maker Bounce to its stable, beefing up a food business that already includes healthy snack brand Go Natural.
PharmaCare chief executive Glenn Cochran says Australia’s vitamins makers have earned a reputation overseas. Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
And with this year’s sale of wellness giant Blackmores to Japanese drinks business Kirin, PharmaCare Laboratories now holds a new title – the company says it is Australia’s largest locally owned vitamin and supplements maker.
It has been clear since the middle of this year that soaring mortgage payments and inflation have radically changed how consumers shop, including how much they spend on beauty and wellness.
PharmaCare chief executive Glenn Cochran has a front-row seat on shopping habits in the aisles of supermarkets and chemists across Australia, and says consumer appetite for wellness products is still more than healthy.
“The spend per capita in Australia in these categories is one of the highest in the world,” he said.
The pandemic drove home the importance of staying well, and now consumer healthcare products are seen as truly non-discretionary. “People maintaining their health is almost tied to their ability to earn an income – it’s as simple as that.”
Sales of iron supplement Fefol are booming, he says, while the group’s antiseptic brand Medi is also performing strongly.
Then there’s the success of the Nature’s Way supplements brand, with its gummy vitamins produced at PharmaCare’s NSW production facility.
Cochran says the business, founded by entrepreneur Toby Browne in 1985, is “an amazing Australian success story”, approaching $750 million in turnover.
But its success is just one part of Australia’s booming health goods market, which is increasingly hot property for global investors.
Two of PharmaCare’s major competitors in the supplements space, Blackmores and Swisse, have been snapped up by offshore investors in the past decade – Swisse to Hong Kong business Biostime in 2015 for $1.7 billion, and Blackmores to Kirin this year in a deal worth $1.9 billion.
Other consumer brands have prompted big deals, such as fake tan business Bondi Sands, which was purchased by Japanese consumer business Kao Corporation this year in a deal worth $400 million.
Cochran says the rise of the Australian supplements industry, which has grown in value to between $5 billion and $6 billion, shows the respect consumers have for the nation’s regulatory frameworks around complementary medicines.
“There definitely is an advantage in the consumer mindset to ‘Australian made and owned’,” he said.
Vitamins maker Blackmores delisted from the ASX this year after being purchased by Japanese beer maker Kirin. Credit:
“The bigger part is that the reason that the Australian industry has grown to $5 billion to $6 billion is because of our regulatory framework, and the fact that provenance is really critical to the category internationally.”
Most vitamins in Australia are regulated as low-risk complementary products, and the Therapeutic Goods Administration assesses them for safety and quality only. However, producers must make their goods in a certified facility, and they can only contain ingredients from a pre-approved list.
Supplement makers must also hold evidence that their products do what they claim, and must produce this if they are the target of the regulator’s market surveillance program.
In a crowded global supplements market, Cochran says, this framework is valued highly and has helped home-grown brands to thrive.
“We should be really proud of this as an industry that we can transport around the world,” he said.
Locally owned retail giants are also taking notice of the wellness boom. Woolworths has switched on telehealth appointments and expanded its range of supplements via its HealthyLife platform, while Bunnings and Kmart owner Wesfarmers is building a national healthcare business after buying Priceline pharmacy operator Australian Pharmaceutical Industries last year.
Wesfarmers also recently added cosmetic injectables business SILK Laser and telehealth operator Instant Scripts to its stable.
The wellness sector is one Wesfarmers boss Rob Scott is eyeing for long-term growth. He told analysts earlier this year that the group’s health arm “provides a platform to build on our capabilities and increase our exposure to the structural demand growth in health and wellbeing sectors”.
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