Direct-to-consumer captures more than one-third of total supplement sales through its multiple channels - including Internet, MLMs, practitioner and mail order. Since 2011, the category has outpaced brick-and-mortar growth rates with a few surprises.

While the vitamin category struggles overall, it is showing remarkable 10 percent growth on the internet. Herbs and botanicals, as we've discussed previously, seem impervious to the rampant bad press of 2015. Even so, it's hard not to find the sustained near 20 percent growth rate surprising - though only 3 percent of total sales for the category. 

This data was taken from Nutrition Business Journal's 2016 Direct-to-Consumer Report: Selling beyond retail. With over 175 pages of data, analysis, market news and company profiles for all direct channels, the report goes deep into the data in all direct channels to pull out the insight that's important to every company and executive in the supplement industry.