Although several retailers cited a fourth-quarter slowdown on the prescription side of the flu category in their quarterly reports, the cough-cold side of the business experienced a slight lift in 2001. Couple this with a strong uptake in the second half of last year's cough-cold season and you have a nice growth curve for calendar year 2001. Last year's anthrax scare certainly encouraged more people to get their flu shots, and this consequently impacted the cough-cold category. With major flu symptoms abated by inoculation, consumers treated more minor illness with basic OTC cough-cold items.
Cough-cold sales may have trended even higher if it weren't for several other compounding factors. The recession may have reduced the frequency of cough-cold purchases as might have an unseasonably warm and dry winter.
Looking forward, Wyeth Consumer Healthcare will be making a move toward the children's cough-cold business with its Advil brand. On the homeopathic side of the business, Quigley will be slicing in a honey lozenge SKU while Hyland's is introducing an allergy remedy.
COPYRIGHT 2002 Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group
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