"Nutritional supplements account for about 200 million Euros of the pharmaceutical market", said Ciprian Bostan, general manager at "Bio Integra" SRL, who added: "Sales have really increased, if we consider that they were estimated at 65 million Euros in 2007-2008. We also know that Romania has an annual consumption per capita of 9.5 Euros, whereas in countries such as Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia it varies between 12 and 15 Euros, and reaches 25 Euros in Western Europe".

The pace of the nutritional supplement business has seen considerable increases of sales, at a pace of more than 20% a year.

Ciprian Bostan said: "If we only consider distribution through drugstores, which is tracked, in 2010 the growth was 11%. This could also include organic healthcare products that are sold in supermarkets or on the internet. We could easily predict that in 2011, sales will continue to increase".

This forecast is based on a poll made by "Bio Integra" which shows that 80% of the pollsters prefer to treat certain issues with natural products, instead of allopathic drugs.

Ciprian Bostan said that ten to fifteen years ago, the market for nutritional supplements was insignificant, but nowadays, the population, in particular people with a higher degree of education and higher access to information, shows flexibility when it comes to choosing products that are based on natural active ingredients, because their action on the body is milder and more efficient in the long run.

He said that "even though they are challenged by some doctors who favor allopathic drugs, the nutritional supplements sell very well in Romania, because they are considered natural and pricing has become more varied, making them accessible for the majority of the population ".

The largest demand is for multivitamins and minerals, for products that address joint problems, weigh