While the plant-derived ingredient, shown to lower cholesterol levels, experienced healthy growth in Europe last year, making use of nearly 3,000 tonnes in food, pharmaceuticals, supplements and cosmetics, this is a fraction of its potential.
Foods with added phytosterols are considered 'novel foods' under European law and this has significantly slowed overall market development.
Dr Raju Adhikari, research analyst at Frost & Sullivan,notes: "Any company wishing to market novel foods in the European Union must first undergo a lengthy and complex formal approval process, typically taking five to 10 years. The costs involved are also considerable, ranging between $125,000 and $400,000 (102,000-325,000 euros)."
Of the 46 applications made to the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) between May 1997 and February 2004 for plant sterol or stanol-based fods, less than 10 were granted marketing authorisation.
Approval of several novel foods containing phytosterols by food regulatory agencies in 2004 is, however, expected to boost market expansion.
"FSA (the UK's Food Standards Agency, which assesses novel food applications) are very optimistic about new approvals in the next one or two years," Dr Adhikari told NutraIngredients.com.
Some of the pending applications include phytosterols in yoghurt-type products, milk-type drinks, sausages, cold cuts, bakery products, beverages and spicy sauces. These new food categories are likely to reinforce the existing success of phytosterol-fortified margarines and spreads in the United Kingdom and Scandinavia.
"If these newly approved food products were to follow the consumer market success of Unilever's Flora Pro-active and Raisio's Benecol, overall growth of the phytosterol market can be expected to be even higher than 30 per cent," said Dr Adhikari.
At the same time, heightened consumer interest in the cholesterol-lowering properties of phytosterols is projected to boost uptake levels. New research suggests that lowering levels of LDL cholesterol could be more important for protecting against strokes and heart disease events than previously thought.
Nevertheless, knowledge about the health benefits of phytosterol-containing products still remains relatively low. Phytosterols play a role not only in preventing heart disease by lowering LDL cholesterol, but are also thought to have anti-inflammatory effects for patients with auto-immune disease, can be used to treat benign prostate hypertrophy, stimulate insulin production for diabetes management and provide skin benefits with anti-ageing effects.
"Not only phytosterol manufacturers, but also food processors, supermarkets and retailers need to work together at promoting customer awareness of the benefits of eating phytosterol-containing products. Further, engagement with government agencies and working with schools to educate youngsters is likely to be an effective way of raising awareness of the health benefits of phytosterols," advises Dr Adhikari.
European phytosterol manufacturers are currently strongly positioned in the market and are generating profits. And while Cognis still dominates, there is growing competition. French firm DRT has added additional capacity that could position it as a direct challenger to the market leader.
At the same time, smaller companies such as Vitae-Caps of Spain are expected to proliferate and are forecast to have high growth potential.
Other players in Europe include Archer Daniel Midland, Forbes Medi-Tech, Novartis, Raisio, UPM-K, Unilever, Degussa and Teriaka.
For more information on the report, Opportunities in the European Phytosterol Markets, contact Noel Anderson.