Dive Brief:
- DTC supplement brand Ritual has launched a new melatonin capsule — BioSeries — designed to optimize release of the natural sleep aid throughout the night.
- The product costs $25 and contains 20 servings in each bottle. It is designed to release 5 mg of melatonin in three phases overnight as one sleeps, according to details emailed to Retail Dive.
- BioSeries Melatonin is available now on the company’s Ritual website and will also be offered on Amazon in early October.
Dive Insight:
BioSeries differentiates itself through a three-phase release of melatonin, which the company claims is unique to the marketplace.
“Melatonin products on the market are often either instant-release or extended-release,” Kat Schneider, founder and CEO of Ritual, said in an email to Retail Dive. “The problem is, instant-release options often give a big dose at the start of the night, but the melatonin from these supplements has a short half-life, meaning it’s processed quickly by the body. So the melatonin from instant-release products may not last as long in the body. Extended-release, on the other hand, has been found to sometimes still be released 8 or 9 hours later, which isn’t ideal for waking up in the morning.”
In surveys of its consumers, Ritual discovered many of the respondents had issues with falling and staying asleep. “Sleep was a major pain point for our consumers, despite the high saturation of products available,” Schneider said. “We saw a clear opportunity to solve for and reimagine it similarly to how we’ve reimagined other categories through traceability.” The company sources its melatonin from Chignolo d’Isola, Italy.
The launch of BioSeries Melatonin follows the brand’s retail expansions with Target and Whole Foods, and the launch of a skin care supplement. Ritual, which launched in 2016, has exceeded 1 million customers and sold more than 10 million multivitamin bottles, the company said in April.
The health and wellness space, and most notably that of supplements, is heating up. Care/of launched this year on both Amazon and at Sam’s Club after entering Target in 2021. The vitamin and mineral supplements market in 2019 was $21.4 billion, per Statista, and is projected to grow to $30.5 billion by 2025.
