The PricePlow Podcast #082: Scott Dicker - Analyzing Supplement Trends at SPINS
https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/scott-dicker-spins
In late January 2023, we sat down to speak with Scott Dicker of SPINS, a wellness-focused data technology company that provides retail consumer insights and analytics, with a focus in the natural, organic, and specialty products industries.
Gathering Market Insights at SPINS
Scott is their director of market insights, and has a special love for sports nutrition products, as he’s a long-time user in the category. We first met him at SupplySide West 2022, where he and Ben both gave presentations in the Sports Nutrition’s Rebound and Regrowth session.
When we needed a quote about the growth of collagen over the past few years, we called on Scott to provide it. This led to us inviting him onto the podcast, which was a great conversation about data, trends, the economy, energy drinks, and some of Scott’s own personal predictions for the coming years.
On the record: Scott answers the call for collagen data
To support a claim made in our recent Ingredient Optimized ioCollagen announcement, we asked Scott to talk to us about collagen’s growth. He replied with the following:
“Collagen continues to expand it’s reach, both in protein powders as well as in functional food and beverages. When looking at protein powders, collagen now has the second largest market share on Amazon, only behind whey protein. While sales and unit both stagnated on Amazon this past year, brick and mortar sales grew by almost 24%. This is especially impressive since units also increased by double digits. This separates collagen from most other categories where sales growth was largely driven by inflation and rising prices. Collagen has really benefited from the diversity of merchandising opportunities that retailers are providing, often found in both the beauty and personal care section as well as supplements. I expect collagen to have another strong year, even in this uncertain economy.”
– Scott Dicker, Market Insights Director for SPINS
The above interaction then led to this podcast episode:
Show Notes with Scott Dicker of SPINS
- (0:00) – Introductions
- (4:40) – Collagen data
- (9:35) – Does SPINS data help brands as well as retailers?
- (14:10) – How does SPINS identify upcoming trends?
- (16:40) – Direct-to-consumer channel
- (23:05) – Shrinkflation and stick packs
- (26:20) – Is the hydration category growing?
- (37:40) – Channel strategies in Walmart
- (40:00) – How has widespread information affected data?
- (52:35) – Is overall caffeine consumption going up?
- (56:40) – Paraxanthine is coming for caffeine’s marketshare
- (1:03:00) – The return of nicotine?
- (1:08:50) – Creatine going mainstream?
- 1:19:40 Is ashwagandha peaking?
It took off in 2020, but Scott does see more modest growth for ashwagandha. It’s switching more from supplement status to functional foods.
That capped off quite a great converation!
Follow Scott and SPINS on LinkedIn: