Global nutraceutical ingredient market worth €18.5bn in 2015

Demand for nutraceutical ingredients like botanicals, vitamins, minerals and omega-3s will grow 7.2% annually until at least 2015 to be worth €18.5 billion with newer markets like Mexico and South Korea helping drive growth in the sector, according to market analyst, Freedonia.

It said “developing regions” like China, Brazil, India, Mexico, Poland, Russia and South Korea were diversifying their markets as incomes ratcheted up, promoting growth in, “food, beverage, nutritional and pharmaceutical industries”.

China is singled out as the biggest force to be reckoned with in a landscape where growth will be slowest in the traditional markets. “Based on projected investment levels in these industries and rising consumer income, China will evolve into the largest global producer and consumer of nutraceutical ingredients by 2020, passing up the United States and Western Europe.”

“Because of maturing markets, the supply and demand of nutraceutical ingredients in the developed countries will increase more slowly than the average pace of the developing world. Nonetheless, food, beverage and drug makers in the developed economies will continue to pursue opportunities in conventional and specialty nutritional products and natural medicines. As a result, they will remain major customers for a broad range of nutraceutical ingredients.”

Naturally sourced

Naturally sourced nutrients like botanicals, fibres, proteins and omega-3s will grow 6.7% to be worth €8.13bn by 2015.

“Demand for these ingredients will gain upward momentum from increasing clinical evidence of health benefits and expanding specialty applications in health foods and beverages, dietary supplements and nutritional preparations,” the report states.

“Naturally derived substances, consisting of herbal and botanical extracts and animal- and marine-based derivatives, will command the fastest growth among the three major groups of nutraceutical ingredients.”

“Omega-3 fish oils will lead gains, reflecting clinically proven cardiovascular benefits and expanding use in dietary supplements and nutritional therapies.”

“The rising popularity of homeopathic remedies, coupled with widespread trends promoting preventive medicine and self treatment, will impact favorably on global demand for numerous other natural nutraceutical ingredients, including cranberry, garlic, ginkgo biloba, ginseng and saw palmetto extracts.”