Dive Brief:
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The natural remedies brand Hilma has partnered with Walmart and is now available in about 2,000 stores and on the mass retailer’s website, according to a press release emailed to Retail Dive.
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Three Hilma top sellers -- gas and bloat relief; dairy and gluten digestive enzymes; and heartburn and indigestion relief -- will be available through the partnership.
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The Walmart deal comes alongside an expansion with Target and Walgreens. Hilma recently launched its gas and bloat relief into Target and is now available in all Target stores, and is in the midst of expanding the brand’s door count in Walgreens, going from 500 to over 2,700 stores, the company told Retail Dive on Thursday.
Dive Insight:
Hilma is on a wholesale growth spurt. The brand tripled its retail business last year and has its eye on going from 2,000 doors to over 10,000 this year, per the release.
Hilma is also launching in five regional grocery chains, including Hy-Vee, Meijer and Fresh Thyme. The grocery chains add 2,300 doors, beginning this summer, according to Hilma co-founder and Chief Brand Officer Lily Galef.
In addition, Hilma has launched two new products: daily pre and probiotic and herbs, and daily fiber and digestive enzymes, a fiber powder supplement for sensitive stomachs.
“This is part of a long-term strategy for Hilma, which unlike many of its DTC-focused peers in health and wellness, has always had an omnichannel focus for their business,” the company said in a release. Galef said Hilma’s Amazon business doubled last year and is projected to do so again this year.
In November 2022, Hilma was acquired by French pharmaceutical company the Biocodex Group.
“The Walmart, Target, and Walgreens launches are a huge milestone for Hilma,” co-founder and co-CEO Nina Mullen said in a statement. “We have been working towards this for the past 3 years, slowly growing and learning in the mass + drug channels with a test and learn approach.”
Hilma’s launch into Walmart comes just as the world’s biggest retailer announced last month that it was closing all of its 51 health centers across five states because they were not profitable enough to sustain, according to the company.
Hilma joins a cadre of DTC health and wellness brands leaning on wholesale to grow their reach and physical footprint. A recent NuOrder report ranked wholesale as the most profitable channel for retail brands looking to grow. Both Walmart and Target have been moving toward expanding their health and wellness aisles in recent years.
In January of this year, Target announced plans to add more than 1,000 new wellness-related products, including apparel, vitamins and supplements, and self-care items, to its assortment. That same month, Target added Kourtney Kardashian Barker’s vitamin and supplement brand Lemme and four of its best-selling products to its roster.
Last year, supplement brand Ritual launched into Target stores and online with its line of multivitamins for adult men and women, as well as its prenatal vitamin. Ritual’s postnatal vitamins are carried at select Target locations.
Last summer, DTC vitamin and supplements brand Love Wellness launched in more than 1,600 Walmart stores, with a half dozen of its digestive and vaginal health products.
