As the UK enters the colder months, demand for OTC remedies is set to rise sharply. The OTC market continues to show robust growth, with 84% of adults choosing self-care as their first option for healthcare (PAGB), and 75% of GP appointments for self-treatable conditions resulting in advice to use OTC medicines.
This consistent demand, especially during colder months, makes OTC a high-value category for retailers.
“To meet this seasonal surge, retailers should focus on stocking a core range that covers the most common winter ailments. This should include trusted decongestants, soothing nasal sprays and natural OTC solutions that can cater to all age groups,” comments Rachel Ramsden, Olbas Brand Manager.
“Retailers should continue to stock products from trusted brands that shoppers rely on knowing they are effective at easing symptoms, such as Olbas, the nation’s favourite decongestant oil (Circana). Products like Olbas for Children offer a gentle option for younger customers, while convenient formats such as Olbas Nasal Spray with added aloe vera and Olbas Breathe Easy Patches provide quick and effective relief for busy, on-the-go lifestyles. Retailers should also consider complementary products such as Olbas Menthol Pastilles, which ease throat irritation and help clear airways.”
Consumer trends are shaping the OTC markets in key ways.
There is a growing interest in natural ingredients, particularly those suitable for the whole family (Statista). Convenience also plays an important role, with nasal sprays and patches offering practical solutions that fit modern lifestyles. Brand trust also remains crucial, with 93% of branded OTC shoppers using brand names to navigate shelves. This preference suggests that offering a good selection of recognised and trusted brands can help retailers meet shopper needs and encourage repeat purchases.
The Olbas range continues to perform strongly in the winter remedies category, with Olbas Oil remaining the nation’s favourite decongestant oil, available for £6.05 (RRP) for a 12ml bottle and £8.85 (RRP) for a 30ml bottle. The Olbas Nasal Spray is performing strongly and is sold for £6.99 (RRP) per 20ml bottle.
This winter, Olbas is launching a brand-new product – Olbas Shower Gel (250ml, RRP £3.49). Made with natural essential oils including Eucalyptus and Peppermint, this shower gel’s invigorating menthol vapours clear airways and eases congestion whilst cleansing, nourishing and moisturising the skin.
Olbas continues to perform well in the OTC category, supported by strong brand recognition, remaining the nation’s favourite decongestant oil year on year. Despite the cost-of-living challenges, consumers remain loyal to trusted brands that deliver results. Shoppers are willing to invest in their health and wellbeing, especially when products use familiar natural ingredients like eucalyptus and menthol.
This year, Olbas’ marketing support includes a yearly winter campaign featuring TV ads, digital advertising and an educational PR campaign to highlight how the nation cares for themselves when suffering from ailments, and the benefits of Olbas’ products.
Elizabeth Hughes-Gapper, Jakemans Senior Brand Manager, comments: “Winter remedies present a significant opportunity for retailers this year, particularly as demand for OTC products remains high. For example, 91 per cent of adults used OTC medicines in the past year for self-treatable conditions, with 93 per cent of branded OTC buyers using brand names to navigate shelves, highlighting trust in branded products. As we enter the winter season, where coughs and sore throats are the result of common winter ailments (Statista), retailers should offer a strong selection of trusted OTC brands like Jakemans – the No.1 cough / throat lozenge brand (Kantar).”
Brands like Jakemans can support retailers by keeping ranges fresh through ongoing flavour innovation and sugar free options that align with consumer trends. This helps retailers offer greater variety to shoppers and stand out on shelves. With a strong reputation for quality and high levels of consumer loyalty, Jakemans gives retailers the confidence to stock up, knowing the range will deliver strong sales.
Retailers should focus on offering a variety of winter remedies, particularly those that address common symptoms such as coughs and sore throats (Kantar). Jakemans, uses only the finest ingredients to provide menthol lozenges with a soothing vapour action to ease sore or tickly throats and keep airways clear.
“Convenience and ease of purchase are important to consumers, meaning retailers should look to use SRP (shelf ready packaging) when merchandising,” adds Hughes-Gapper. “They should also place winter ailments remedies in prominent locations to ensure products have the best visibility on shelf but also allow retailers to monitor shoppers easily, reducing the opportunity for theft. Dual siting, by displaying menthol lozenges at both the till point and healthcare aisle, will help with convenience and ease of purchase, two key components for consumers and retail staff.”
Innovation continues to be a key focus for the brand. Further expanding its flavour offering, alongside Jakemans permanent range in flavours such as Throat & Chest, Throat & Chest Sugar Free, Honey & Lemon, Cherry, Peppermint, Blackcurrant, Menthol & Eucalyptus, and Blueberry. Building on the strong consumer response to the previous Limited Edition flavour Blood Orange & Winter Spice, Jakemans launched a new Limited Edition Spiced Cola in August, offering customers a bold new twist for the upcoming season and deepening engagement through flavour innovation. Jakemans has also extended its permanent sugar free product offering in August, with the new addition of Sugar Free Summer Berries providing further choice for consumers.
Marketing support also remains a key priority for Jakemans. The brand has an integrated marketing approach, including a strong TV, radio, PR, digital and social campaigns approach, ensuring the brand remains front of mind throughout winter, spring and other key seasonal moments.
“You might reasonably expect OTC & Winter Remedies sales to correlate with cold and flu cases, which were down during last season. But sales of Throat Sweets have exceeded those expectations over the last year as consumers turned to their favourite brands for comfort during the winter months, and then increasingly used them for relief from symptoms during the annual hay fever season,” comments Jon R. White, Regional Business Manager at Fisherman’s Friend.
For while the category stayed flat in volume (+0.1% YoY), it rose by +3.8% in value (Nielsen). Fisherman’s Friend’s value sales are up +8.7%, volume by +1.4%, and its market share has grown to 3.4% (Nielsen). The brand’s success is built on heritage and trust. With 160 years of history and 10mg of menthol per lozenge – the highest in the market – Fisherman’s Friend offers strength and relief that’s tough to match. Shoppers know they’re getting a no-nonsense lozenge that effectively supports easing cold and flu symptoms.
“What sets us apart is our year-round relevance. OTC sales typically peak during the cold and flu season, but people also reach for our lozenges for relief of hay fever symptoms, or just to freshen their breath. Retailers who recognise that Fisherman’s Friend can perform beyond winter will see the most sales success. In fact, last year’s hay fever season saw Fisherman’s Friend’s sales rise by +23% in value and +15% in volume (Nielsen). This year-round versatility drives long-term loyalty,” adds White.
“Offering value for money is also increasingly important. Our packs contain more lozenges than competitors’, offering shoppers a great bang for their buck – particularly important during ongoing economic uncertainty and cost of living pressures. In times like these, shoppers stick with what they know works – and that’s Fisherman’s Friend.”
The core range, led by Original Extra Strong, makes up 59% of the brand’s sales, with Blackcurrant (21%) and Honey & Lemon (6%) also popular (Ceuta Healthcare).
A major PR and influencer campaign is lined up for the 2025 cold and flu season, alongside fresh content across social channels to keep Fisherman’s Friend front of mind.
“For Fisherman’s Friend, innovation isn’t just about launching new flavours for the sake of it – it’s about reinforcing our core proposition. Our focus remains on format innovation and ensuring our packs meet shoppers’ needs across all channels. Whether it’s the convenience of a single 25g pack, the value of a multipack, or a bulk buy online, we’re optimising our offering without diluting what the brand stands for,” says White.
“Additionally, we’re evolving how we engage consumers. Our latest PR and influencer campaigns are reshaping perceptions of Fisherman’s Friend as not just a winter cold and flu essential, but a year-round go-to, especially with hay fever seasons getting longer and more severe.
“Ultimately, our commitment is clear: a high-menthol, great value, trusted product that delivers all year round.”
Jenny Farnham, Northern Europe Marketing Manager – Cough & Cold, Kenvue, comments: “The whole sector has a crucial role to play in making self-care more accessible, intuitive, and impactful for people of all ages. A recent PAGB study found 75% of GP appointments for self-treatable conditions result in people being pointed towards OTC medication. It also found however, that a significant portion of the population still lacks confidence in their self-care abilities. With this in mind, it is clear more can be done to educate and empower individuals to confidently manage their own health. Trusted OTC brands should work to support public health initiatives and help the public adopt advancing digital health platforms – making self-care increasingly accessible.”
GP surgeries are increasingly overstretched in the UK, with the government recently prioritising solutions to reduce pressure on primary care through the NHS 10 Year Plan. To help alleviate the burden on the health system, retailers should continue to prioritise OTC medicines for self-treatable illnesses, such as those in the cough, decongestion, and children’s pain categories.
Products from brands like BENYLIN® and SUDAFED® are especially helpful during the winter months when many people suffer from coughs and colds, whilst many parents may rely on CALPOL® to manage children’s pain and fevers.
“Our priority is to make effective products that are easily accessible to consumers, especially over the cold and flu season when self-treatable illnesses are at a high. As such, we are really pleased that SUDAFED® Plus recently received approval from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to be reclassified from Pharmacy (P) to General Sales List (GSL),” adds Farnham.
SUDAFED® Plus nasal spray offers an impressive 5-in-1 benefit and fast congestion relief. It helps target congestion at the source, reduces nasal swelling, unblocks mucus and also soothes and helps protect the irritated nasal lining. It’s a unique formulation with xylometazoline and dexpanthenol that gets to work on congestion in 5 minutes, lasting up to 10 hours. The launch will be accompanied by in-store activations from September and a comprehensive seasonal media plan.
Consumers are increasingly blending more traditional online research with what they see on social media, combined with their in-store experience, when shopping for OTC medicines. This omnichannel behaviour means that trustworthy and accurate online information is vital, especially as shoppers often check their phones for health advice while browsing the aisles. Ensuring that the information they find is reliable and science-backed can significantly influence purchasing decisions.
“We know that brand awareness plays a crucial role in the sales of OTC medicines and we always strive to ensure our products are in the right places at the right time. In the Winter Remedies category specifically, 80% of brand decisions are made outside of the store, emphasizing the importance of awareness and mental availability. However, 60% of people will switch to an alternative product at point of purchase if they cannot find the brand they are looking for (Greenshoots). With that in mind, physical availability is critical to driving purchases, particularly for products like BENYLIN®, SUDAFED®, and CALPOL®, which are often distress purchases,” says Farnham.
People look to trusted brands when they need quick relief – especially for symptoms caused by coughs and colds. In fact, PAGB’s recent consumer survey found that 77% of adults specifically buy branded OTC products. Of that group, 93% also used brand names to help find the right medicine on the shelves. Kenvue’s well-known brands, like SUDAFED®, BENYLIN®, and CALPOL® are growing in OTC categories including decongestion, cough, and children’s pain.
Kenvue’s 2025 marketing strategy focuses on building brand awareness and expanding reach for its product ranges. The company is doing this through its digital channels and Broadcast Video on Demand (BVOD). It is also partnering with retailers to ensure messages reach shoppers year-round through in-store activations, branded digital displays, and online brand treatment pages.
Rachael Hall, Head of Marketing at Love Mushrooms, comments: “Menopause is undergoing a generational shift. Women are thinking about it earlier, demanding better, and refusing to be blindsided by a life stage that was once taboo. Yet, many brands remain stuck in a reactive model – jumping on the trend with products that promise a lot but deliver little. This wave of ‘meno-washing’ is leaving women underserved at a time when they need genuine, effective support.”
Colder weather and shorter days have a measurable impact on wellbeing. Reduced daylight disrupts melatonin and serotonin production, and vitamin D levels fall sharply. For women navigating perimenopause or menopause, these seasonal factors can heighten existing hormonal symptoms such as sleep disruption, low mood, anxiety, brain fog, and fatigue – issues that traditional winter wellness products often fail to address.
The seasonal wellness market itself is substantial. Vitamin D usage spikes in winter thanks to NHS and government recommendations, and OTC immune supplements like vitamin C, zinc, and elderberry can expect to see a significant increase (between 35% and 40%, Nutrisslim) in sales during the cold and flu season. The UK dietary supplements market – currently worth USD 4.79 billion – is forecast to double to USD 9.65 billion by 2033 (CAGR 8.1%), with vitamin supplements making up 37.4% of the market. Within this, the UK menopause market is worth USD 490 million in 2024 and expected to reach USD 648 million by 2030 (Grand View Research), with supplements dominating category sales.
“At Love Mushrooms, we believe winter wellbeing strategies should go beyond immunity to address the wider picture – focusing on cognitive clarity, energy, emotional balance, and stress resilience. This is especially true for midlife women, where seasonal changes and hormonal shifts overlap to create a unique set of ongoing challenges,” adds Hall.
The brand created its Empower Range to meet these needs with effective, natural solutions.
Empower Perimenopause Capsules are adaptogenic mushrooms with minerals and vitamins to aid stress management, mood stability, sleep quality, hormonal balance, and cognitive clarity.
Empower Menopause Capsules are targeted nutritional support for hot flushes, night sweats, mood fluctuations, disrupted sleep, cognitive function, and bone health.
Empower Decaf Coffee Boost is a caffeine-free daily ritual pairing premium decaf coffee with functional mushrooms, hormone-balancing minerals, and essential nutrients -perfect for winter comfort without the caffeine crash.
All products are certified with the M-Tick – the world’s first universal menopause-friendly symbol helping improve shelf transparency and trust.
Alongside Empower, the Everyday Wellness collection offers single-ingredient Lion’s Mane, Reishi, and Cordyceps extracts in capsule or liquid drop formats for daily immunity, stress resilience, and cognitive performance. These are ideal for supporting both physical and mental wellbeing through the darker, colder months.
With consumer awareness of hormonal health at an all-time high and the supplements category evolving beyond basic winter remedies, brands that can deliver evidence-based, bioavailable, and seasonally relevant solutions will be best placed to meet this demand.
Susan Nash, Trade Communications Manager at Mondel?z International, comments: “Relief candy sales peak in winter with the annual arrival of the traditional cough and cold season. However, in recent years the category has continued to justify and expand its place on store shelves all year round.”
Halls is a non-medicated relief candy brand and continues to lead the category as the no. 1 relief candy (Nielsen).
Whether it be for menthol clearing or gentle soothing, shoppers look for brands they know and trust in-store. Singles are the most important format across the category as shoppers look for a readily available and tasty relief brand to help continue with their day and embrace the moments that matter.
The Halls brand offers the Halls Mentholyptus range, which includes the most popular variant, Extra Strong, alongside sugar-free options in Original, Cherry and Citrus that provide menthol clearing. Halls also offers Soothers, which include the best-selling Blackcurrant flavour, as well as Cherry, Strawberry, Peach and Raspberry, and Honey and Lemon variants to help provide gentle soothing. Whatever prompts shoppers to choose to buy into the category, they have their clear favourites.
Halls boasts a vibrant and cohesive design across the portfolio, allowing consumers to find their chosen solution with confidence and ease.
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