In the pharmacy, a roaring start to the year for cosmetics and supplements

he cosmetics in pharmacy starts 2017 with the foot on the accelerator: +4.6% in January compared to the same month a year ago, a leap forward that brings it back into positive territoryotal over twelve months. In fact, 2016 ended with the channel completely at a standstill (zero growth); in the rolling year ending in February, however, cosmetics in pharmacies achieved +1% per unit and +0.6% in values, for a turnover of around one thousand million euro. These are some of the data reported by Giorgio Cenciarelli, of QuintilesIms, in the press conference organized on Thursday in Milan to present the 2017 edition of Cosmofarma Exhibition, scheduled in Bologna from 5 to 7 May. In his speech, Cenciarelli proposed a photo of the pharmacy market updated to the first surveys of 2017: in summary, in the 12 months ending in February, the channel reconfirms the final balance at the end of 2016 with an almost unchanged turnover (-0 .8% compared to the previous period) and equally stable volumes (+0.1%).

If the line is flat, some segments still stand out for their dynamism. This is precisely the case of cosmetics, driven in the mobile year by some specific categories such as fragrances (+102.2% in units sold, +50.7% in turnover), lip protection products (+9, 6% in volume and +9.3% in value) and those for hand care (+8.4% in volume and +6% in value). Then there are supplements, which again in the rolling year grow by 6.1% per unit and by 7% in value to arrive at representing more than 10% of the pharmacy's total sales (turnover of 2.6 billion euros). «Integration, prevention and cosmetics» concluded Cenciarelli «continue to support the channel in this moment of great complexity».

(AS – Federfarma -01/04/2017)