An Insight into APP - Australian Pharmacy Expo | Unique Health Products
31 March 2017 | By Unique Health Products Unique Events, Uniquers
THIS YEAR’S AUSTRALIAN PHARMACY PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION (APP) SAW 6,500 ATTENDEES GATHER AT THE GOLD COAST CONVENTION AND EXHIBITION CENTRE IN EARLY MARCH.
Australian pharmacy retail managers, pharmacists, pharmacy groups’ buyers, pharmacy assistants, industry suppliers, as well as national speakers all congregated to share knowledge and identify what’s happening in the industry.
Differing to previous years, this year the interest had clearly shifted in favour of natural alternatives and healthy snacks.
With trends identifying that customers are putting high importance on products with attributes such as natural, high protein/low carb, gluten free, vegan and sugar free – this is where the industry interest laid.
Protein powders, clean snacks, beauty2go face masks, charcoal toothpaste, active nutrition, natural baby care, magnesium oil, coconut oil and natural remedies, like the popular Martin & Pleasance range, all had lots of interest during the three-day event.
Consumer demand and health market trends seem to be the main reason for a shift in the increased need for natural products. APP surely identified the huge opportunity for pharmacy to expand into this category.
A little about the exhibition atmosphere.
Winning best stand award at the Naturally Good Expo in 2016 put the pressure on to go one even bigger and better for APP 2017. With a dedicated and trained expo and merchandising team, the Unique stand certainly pulled together a crowd, representing our brands and our dedication to the industry.
Retail managers and pharmacists took tips and photos of the merchandising and range to help them replicate it in their store.
Our stand featured an extensive display of our top sellers in the pharmacy channel. Product categories included: pantry (gluten-free and other diet-specific options), superfoods and remedies, healthy impulse-buy, active nutrition, eco-friendly products, natural baby and body care.
The stand also clearly displayed plenty of new product trends on show.
To ensure our top selling brands were understood by the pharmacy channel, we had suppliers including Bounce Bites, Amazing Oils and Wotnot providing demos and we also offered taste-testing of many of our top sellers.
Attendees enjoyed samples of CLIF Bars, Bounce Bites, East Bali Cashew Cacao Popcorn, Seaweed Superfood Popcorn Turmeric and The Ginger People Ginger Rescue.
We received complements for Unique’s large range of brands and best customer service in the natural industry with our sample bags being highly sought after.
Our show bags featured all the latest trending products in the natural health channel including My Magic Mud Activated Charcoal Toothpaste, Alchemy Turmeric Elixir, The Ginger People Gin Gins, CLIF Bar energy bars, Wotnot facial and baby wipes, Acure Argan Oil, Little Mashies, Jack n’ Jill Gum Wipes, Protein Supplies Australia WPI and Dr Organic Hemp Oil Hand Cream.
What did we have on offer to help pharmacy retailers expand their natural category?
If you were one of the thousands that did attend, you would have had the opportunity to touch and try the products, to get more information about the complete wholesale service Unique offers to support your growth through sales tools, visits from our representatives, demos and more.
If you didn’t get a chance to visit us, contact us for our pharmacy range recommendations booklet and any information you need on starting or expanding your natural health product range in your pharmacy environment.
Attending APP 2017, we hoped to provide an opportunity for pharmacy to sell products that encourage healthy lifestyles and prevent disease and the chance to evolve from the traditional format of pharmacies into a complete health provider.
Natural health and beauty are growing rapidly in all retail channels, so it is a great time for retail pharmacies to tap into the growth opportunity.
We are excited to be working with all retailers who support our industry and are now working hard to create even more excitement at our stand for the Naturally Good Expo in June.
If you would like to visit us at APP next year, we’ll be there with the same big size, but an all-new and exciting selection of top selling products to show. Keep an eye out for release dates and information here.
If you want to expand your health product offerings at your pharmacy, you can easily get started here.