McKesson Launches Health and Wellness Brand, Foster & Thrive

In an interview with Drug Topics at McKesson ideaShare 2023, Peter Koo, PharmD, vice president, general manager, Pharmacy & Healthcare Solutions at McKesson, discussed how McKesson’s new private label brand Foster & Thrive came to be.

“Previously, we had 2 private label brands, Sunmark and Health Mart, which sold different categories of products,” said Koo. “A couple dynamics have changed in the last several years; one is growth of the consumer demand for private label across industries. A tremendous amount of consumers are now turning to private label over-the-counter products to manage their health, given a number of factors such as price and recognizing quality is equivalent to national brands.”

As a result, McKesson decided to look at the opportunity to consolidate the brands into a single brand, as well as re-envision the brand by considering the future of the label. Thus, Foster & Thrive was born. The purpose, Koo said, is to “adapt to the needs and circumstance of today’s environment. We want to captivate today’s consumers by being the trusted source they’re looking for with a fresh, new brand."

The thought process, Koo said, came down to making sure value was evident for both sides: the pharmacies and their customers. “I think it's all about value for the independents. This is another avenue for them to reach more customers, reach the right customers. Secondarily, it's also from a profit perspective and area for them to gain more margin.... For consumers or patients, when a pharmacy offers private label products they have more options of a quality product at a lower cost."

Koo reiterated that Foster & Thrive will continue to grow as time passes; but he’s confident in that starting point for this new brand. “Foster & Thrive has all the previous categories of care today, from vitamins to footcare to thermometers and blood pressure monitors. So, the same products that we have had for independent pharmacies and their customers, [is] now under the Foster & Thrive brand. With the unified private brand, we have greater opportunities to introduce more categories and new products down the line, too. We're setting the foundation now that will enable us to expand and create even more value for our customers into the future."