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Prop 65 lawsuit slows fish oil sales, but numbers still up over 2009Prop 65 lawsuit slows fish oil sales, but numbers still up over 2009

Joysa Winter

June 21, 2010

4 Min Read
Prop 65 lawsuit slows fish oil sales, but numbers still up over 2009

The unprecedented amount of media attention over the lawsuit filed against eight fish oil suppliers and retailers in March has put a big dent in the growth of the sector in the United States. Yet fish oil sales are still up significantly from 2009.

According to the latest market data by SPINS, the weekly sales of vitamins and supplements whose primary ingredient is fish oil was $6.42 million for the week ending May 15. This is a 15.16 per cent increase over the same week one year earlier, when sales totalled $5.58 million.

Sales are only slightly lower than they were the first week of 2010. For the week ending Jan. 2, sales totalled $6.48 million.

The lawsuit was filed March 2 in California by the Mateel Environmental Justice Foundation. According to the group, a handful of fish oil products they tested have PCB contamination above the so-called 'safe harbour' limit for human PCB consumption under California's Proposition 65 law.

Despite the strong growth in the sector over 2009, it is clear that the lawsuit has taken its toll in 2010. In the first full week after news of the lawsuit broke, sales took a huge hit, going from $8.05 million (March 6) to $6.6 million (March 13). They have been on a slow increase since then, but have failed to return to their peak on March 6.

Combined Channel: Natural Supermarkets; Conventional Food/Drug/Mass Merch (excluding Wal-Mart)

Source: SPINSscan Natural; SPINSscan Conventional, powered by Nielsen

Market: TOTAL US

Data: Vitamins & Supplements, Fish Oil Concentrate as a Primary Ingredient

Period:

Current Dollars

Year Ago Dollars

$ % Chg*

1 WEEK ENDING 05/15/10

$6,423,405

$5,577,920

15.16%

1 WEEK ENDING 05/08/10

$6,448,770

$5,442,522

18.49%

1 WEEK ENDING 05/01/10

$6,532,241

$5,355,264

21.98%

1 WEEK ENDING 04/24/10

$6,469,507

$5,596,065

15.61%

1 WEEK ENDING 04/17/10

$6,513,662

$4,496,924

44.85%

1 WEEK ENDING 04/10/10

$6,154,735

$5,498,164

11.94%

1 WEEK ENDING 04/03/10

$6,380,212

$5,554,280

14.87%

1 WEEK ENDING 03/27/10

$6,499,933

$5,265,478

23.44%

1 WEEK ENDING 03/20/10

$6,669,074

$5,479,810

21.70%

1 WEEK ENDING 03/13/10

$6,602,732

$5,667,484

16.50%

1 WEEK ENDING 03/06/10

$8,052,471

$5,751,498

40.01%

1 WEEK ENDING 02/27/10

$7,007,329

$5,553,910

26.17%

1 WEEK ENDING 02/20/10

$7,435,797

$5,634,643

31.97%

1 WEEK ENDING 02/13/10

$7,224,547

$5,440,430

32.79%

1 WEEK ENDING 02/06/10

$8,290,122

$6,107,950

35.73%

1 WEEK ENDING 01/30/10

$7,351,223

$5,218,064

40.88%

1 WEEK ENDING 01/23/10

$7,799,812

$5,105,171

52.78%

1 WEEK ENDING 01/16/10

$7,987,794

$5,849,186

36.56%

1 WEEK ENDING 01/09/10

$8,563,136

$6,710,672

27.60%

1 WEEK ENDING 01/02/10

$6,479,326

$5,475,303

18.34%

*(Percent change compares this week to the same week last year)


About the Author(s)

Joysa Winter

Joysa has been reporting on the healthy foods and dietary supplements industry for more than a decade. She is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism and has a master's degree in Hebrew Letters.

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