Industry News

Hallmark Delivers Handwritten Messages on Greeting Cards

Hallmark’s latest innovation is making it easier to send handwritten cards. The St. Louisbased greeting card company rolled out Sign & Send, allowing consumers to use their mobile device to order a card with their handwritten messages printed inside and send it directly to a recipient.

“We are thrilled to introduce this new technology that will help people put more care into the world,” Lindsey Roy, Hallmark’s chief marketing officer, said. “Today, people use their phones for everything from connecting with friends to shopping. Sign & Send offers the digital ease and convenience people have come to expect, while giving them a way to create genuine and meaningful connections that can only be done with a Hallmark card.”

Users access the service from Hallmark.com, where they can select their card and add their own handwritten message by writing it on a sheet of paper and snapping a photo that can be uploaded onto the website. After the mailing address is entered, Hallmark will stamp the card and send it to the recipient at no extra cost, the company said.

“This is a personalized and seamless way for consumers to shop, choose, purchase and send greeting cards,” Roy said. “This new offering brings together the digital and physical by offering the exact same Hallmark cards that you find in stores at the same price, but signed and sent directly from a phone.”

The rollout was accompanied by a promotion letting consumers send their first Sign & Send card for free.

CoverGirl Reduces Plastic in Pressed Powder Packaging

CoverGirl is continuing its efforts toward sustainable packaging by using 35% less plastic in each of its Clean Pressed Powder compacts.

The beauty brand is altering the packaging of its Clean Pressed Powder collection, including Clean Pressed Powder, Clean Matte Pressed Powder, Clean Sensitive Pressed Powder and Clean Fresh Pressed Powder.

“CoverGirl continues to make good-for-you makeup and skin care, prioritizing the health of our consumers and the planet,” said Stefano Curti, chief brands officer at Coty. “I am delighted that this initiative means eliminating some plastic by ensuring our Clean Pressed Powders now have 35% less plastic per compact — a tangible example of Coty’s commitment to more sustainable packaging through our Beauty That Lasts initiative,” he said. “As a brand, CoverGirl continues to identify areas where we can reduce our environmental impact, continuing to lead the way as the original clean brand, which our consumers are proud to stand behind.”

Mars Wrigley Previews Holiday Treats from M&M’s, Dove

Even as temperatures hit record highs, Mars Wrigley is previewing what will be coming down the chimney this holiday season from its M&M’s and Dove brands.

The M&M’s brand will release limitededition White Chocolate Pretzel Snowballs, which combine a white chocolate shell with a pretzel-filled center.

The limited-edition Dove Milk Chocolate Toffee Almond Crunch Promises feature almond toffee covered in milk chocolate.

“Our fans celebrate our innovative seasonal flavors every year,” said Tanya Berman, seasonal marketing at Mars Wrigley. “This year, we wanted to deliver even more smiles to consumers ahead of the holiday season with an early announcement of our festive new flavor combinations — white chocolate and pretzel in M&M’S White Chocolate Pretzel Snowballs and almonds and toffee in Dove Milk Chocolate Toffee Almond Crunch.”

Both the M&M and Dove new flavors will be available in September.

Canus, Del Sol Impress at ECRM’s Natural Beauty Program

Canus won the Drug Store News/ECRM Buyers’ Choice Award for its Creamy Body Lotion with Real Shea Butter at ECRM’s Skin Care, Bath, Cosmetics and Natural Beauty program in early June. Del Sol was a finalist for its Color Changing Nail Polish.

The products were selected from dozens of entries submitted by participating suppliers. Buyers were able to evaluate each entry and cast their votes based on product packaging and innovation via the Drug Store News-branded Buyers’ Choice Awards section of the ECRM Connect platform.

“Many of the buyers we spoke with during the session say that consumers are more educated on ingredients than ever before and increasingly conscious of what they put on their bodies,” said Craig Chmielowicz, ECRM senior vice president of health and beauty care. “Both Buyers’ Choice Award winners have addressed this fact by creating innovative products with a focus on cleaner and free-from formulations.”

Nature by Canus is a personal care product brand that distributes and sells fresh goat milk and plant extract-based skin care products developed to preserve healthy skin naturally.

The brand’s Creamy Body Lotion with Real Shea Butter is 91% naturally derived and formulated to leave a flowery fragrance on the skin. It provides nourishing and softening benefits from fresh goat’s milk. The company said its ingredients are all sourced from responsible producers and that its products are free of EDTA, phosphates, parabens, dyes and colorants.

Finalist Del Sol’s products include clothing, accessories and nail polish that change color in the sun, returning to their original color without sunlight. The brand’s products come with lifetime guarantees and are designed to encourage sun safety via their Sol Smart indicator that lets wearers know when the UV index is too high.

Del Sol's selection of color-changing nail polish ranges from glitter and matte to classic and shimmer polishes that change color in the sun, effectively providing two colors in one application. Offered in more than 30 shades and never tested on animals, the polishes are free of toluene, dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin and camphor.

IQVIA Report: U.S. Health System Recovering from Pandemic

The U.S. health system demonstrated resilience and flexibility during 2020, recovering toward its pre-pandemic levels of activity and progressing into 2021, even as the backlog of missed or delayed activity remains substantial. This finding comes from a new report by the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science. The institute’s “The Use of Medicines in the U.S.” report also found that medicine supply was largely maintained and spending on medicines increased by less than 1% on a net price basis.

Key areas of focus of the report include:

Health Services Utilization Index during COVID-19

• During the first quarter of 2021, the use of key health services — as measured by the IQVIA Health Services Utilization Index — was at 82% of pre-COVID-19 levels, up from a low of 42% at the peak of the first wave of the pandemic in April 2020.

Medicine Use

• A total of 6.3 billion prescriptions were dispensed in 2020 with growth slowing to 1.7% after adjusting for the increased use of 90-day prescriptions for chronic therapies.

Medicine Spending and Growth Drivers

• U.S. medicine spending increased 0.8% on a net price basis to $359 billion, which reflects an increasing gap between list or invoice prices and manufacturer net revenues.

Patient Out-of-Pocket Costs and Affordability

• Out-of-pocket costs in aggregate for all patients, including retail prescriptions and non-retail medicines, increased $1 billion in 2020 to a record $77 billion; • Patients without insurance paid $25 billion for prescriptions, of which 97% were generics; and • Total out-of-pocket costs for cash-pay patients have increased by 46% in the past five years, even as the outof-pocket average for those with insurance dropped to $9.81 in 2020, down from $10.33 in 2015.

Outlook to 2025

• Total net spending on medicine is expected to reach $380 to $400 billion in 2025, up from $359 billion in 2020, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 0% to 3%; and • Brands will continue to launch at record levels, with an estimated 50 to 55 new active substances expected to contribute roughly $133 billion in spending growth through 2025.

To view the full report, visit: iqvia.com/insights/the-iqviainstitute/reports/ the-use-of-medicines-in-the-us.

P&G Debuts Nerve Pain-Focused Supplement Line

Procter & Gamble is bringing formulas inspired by its popular international nerve pain brand stateside. The company is introducing Nervive, a line of daily supplements meant to address nerve care and pain relief.

Nervive’s supplements line includes Nerve Health for fortifying foundational nerve health and Nerve Relief and Nerve Relief PM for occasional nerve aches, weakness and discomfort due to aging. The line of products is inspired by P&G’s non-U.S. brand Neurobion, which is the world’s top-selling nerve care brand, based on Nicholas Hall data.

“Our nerves are critical to our everyday lives, impacting everything we do. Many Americans experience occasional nerve discomfort as they age, impacting their lives,” said Jeff Cullinane, P&G senior brand franchise director of North America personal healthcare. “That’s why we felt it was important to launch Nervive in the U.S., to give people with nerve discomfort somewhere to turn and make a meaningful difference in their daily lives.”

The company said that aging leads to natural structural changes in the nervous system, including slowed signaling through the nerves and loss of myelin — both factors that can contribute to nerve discomfort as people age.

“The signaling between these nerves helps us with simple actions like wiggling our fingers and toes or holding a cup of coffee, basically driving our ability to interact with the world around us,” said Arvind Venkataraman, senior scientist at P&G. “Nervive was specially formulated by understanding the biology of nerves and choosing ingredients that work to support their fundamental needs and functions, helping with nerve aches, weakness and discomfort in extremities like fingers and toes.”

Nervive has launched online and at retailers nationwide.

Bragg Unveils Apple Cider Vinegar Capsules

One of the best-known names in apple cider vinegar is introducing a new product meant to deliver the ingredient in capsule form. Bragg Live Food Products has launched Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar supplements, offering 750 mg of acetic acid — the equivalent of 1 tbsp. of liquid apple cider vinegar — per three capsules.

“Launching a supplement was a natural step for us towards our mission to help individuals live their healthiest lives,” said Bragg CEO Linda Boardman. “Apple cider vinegar has been used for centuries because of its proven health benefits, but consumers will only gain the full range of those health benefits with the right dose of acetic acid.”

Bragg said benefits from the acetic acid dose include helping control appetite and manage weight gain, as well as maintenance of healthy blood glucose and cholesterol levels. The product also includes vitamin D and zinc. The capsules are sold in 90-count bottles for a suggested retail price of $19.99.

“With so much confusion in the ACV supplement space, compounded by the fact that manufacturers don’t list acetic acid content on their labels, we’ve made it our mission to ensure that consumers obtain a truly efficacious dose of 750 mg of acetic acid per serving, all in a convenient format that fits seamlessly into one’s daily routine,” Boardman said.

Alongside the capsule launch, Bragg is establishing a scientific advisory board that includes Jeffrey Blumberg, physician Dr. Edwin McDonald and registered dietitian McKel Kooienga, who are experts in micronutrients and their effect on health and wellness. Bragg said it would work with them to help educate consumers about the science behind apple cider vinegar’s purported benefits.

Sera Labs, Nicole Kidman Launch Seratopical Revolution

Sera Labs is launching a plant-based antiaging beauty line developed in partnership with brand ambassador and strategic partner Nicole Kidman. Seratopical Revolution consists of 11 products that aim to keep skin feeling more youthful and hydrated.

“I really wanted to create something that was meaningful to me and that I knew people would genuinely enjoy,” Kidman said. “These products are personal to me from the scent to the texture. I am so excited to share them with the world and hope everyone loves them as much as we do.”

Featuring a P3P complex, the line’s ingredients work to go into deeper layers of the skin via a tripeptide delivery system, the company said. The CBD-free line’s formulations also include hyaluronic acid, coriander, jojoba and cranberry seed oils, which help soothe and protect the delicate areas around the eyes.

“It’s been an incredible ride creating this line with Nicole,” said Nancy Duitch, Sera Labs CEO and Cure Pharmaceutical chief strategic officer. “Our proprietary formulators have developed a high-tech delivery system, which allows the ingredients to go deep into the skin. Our loyal customers will benefit from scientifically backed ingredients that are designed to enhance hydration and rejuvenate collagen. Revolution offers a full-body line packed with natural plant extracts and peptide blends.”