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Nutraceuticals market in Europe - An overview
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Amrit Karmarkar, Pratik Mahadik
April 27 , 2015
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Introduction
Nutraceuticals - the term reminds one of the
Hippocrates quote, “Let thy food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy
food.” It means let food be your medicine and vice versa. Interestingly,
Hippocrates, who advocated the healing effects of food, is considered
father of Western medicine.
Nutraceuticals basically deal with
the models of nutrition and pharmaceuticals, yet they are not subjected
to the same testing and regulations as that of pharmaceutical drugs and
medicines. Dr Stephen L DeFelice, founder and chairman, Foundation of
Innovation Medicine (FIM), Crawford, New Jersey, coined the term
nutraceuticals by keeping in view the overall ideology of nutraceuticals
as a food or part of food which provides medical or health benefits
together with prevention or treatment of disease.
Dietary
supplements, functional beverages and functional foods are some of the
broad spectrum categories which are covered under the scope of
nutraceuticals.
In a general market survey, the major consumers
of nutraceuticals comprised the populace suffering from lifestyle
diseases, rheumatoid arthritis and joint pain, osteoarthritis and joint
pain, diabetic neuropathy, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy,
migraine headaches and other types of chronic pain. They are also
consumed by people such as pregnant women and individuals concerned with
balanced diets and nutrition.
Market Trends and Impact (Europe)
The
term nutraceuticals is defined in different ways in different nations.
In the European Union, it is defined as a source equipped with
concentrated sources of nutrients as well as a substance with a
beneficial nutritional effect. According to a Transparency Market
Research report, globally the business of this industry showed a value
of $142.1 billion and as per ongoing progress and growth, it is
estimated to cross the value of $204.8 billion by 2017 visualising a
CAGR of 6.3% from 2012 to 2017. Another market report shares a bright
prospectus for nutraceuticals market mostly in European countries
displaying a CAGR of 6.8% from 2012 to 2018. Consumer awareness is the
key factor promoting this growth in the respective region.
Europe
mineral markets is expected to be the front runner in assuring reality
to all the market reports predictions. Minerals in framework of
inorganic chemical elements, human diet, consumption of dietary
supplements dominates the current chart. Germany holds the maximum share
(25%) for the minerals market in Europe. BASF (Germany) contributes to
3% from the total mineral market share and it is followed by ADM (US)
2.90%, Cargill (US), Ingredion (US), and DSM (Netherlands).
The
segment functional beverages has succeeded in capitalising the market to
an appreciable extent. Soft drinks have become a booming target for
functional beverages. Other products such as Ace drinks, herbal drinks,
enhanced waters, probiotic milk drinks, meal replacement drinks, mineral
fortified drinks, vitamin, functional juice and wellness drinks are
some of the other categories in functional beverages section.
Intestinal-health
promoting probiotic fruit drinks are carrying out major business in
countries like Sweden. Along with such highs there were also some lows
observed in the European region such as fortified waters, which failed
to make impact in France and other markets whereas functional waters in
the UK did not receive bright response in the market, as unpleasant
taste was considered a weak link behind this segment.
Functional
ingredients used in beverages are categorised under below-mentioned
classes: Vitamins & minerals; Carotenoids (e.g. beta-carotene,
lutein, lycopene); Dietary fibre (e.g. inulin, beta-glucan); Omega-3
fatty acids (e.g. docosa-hexaenoic acid-DHA), Amino acids and
derivatives (e.g. lysine, taurine, L-carnitine); Flavonoids (e.g.
resveratrol, quercetin); Live bacteria/probiotics (e.g. Lacto-bacillus
casei); Medicinal plants (e.g. ginkgo, balm, St. John's Wort); Tea
plants (e.g. green tea, mat, rooibos); Spices (e.g. ginger, lemon
grass); Other plants (e.g. aloe vera, guarana, schizandra); Fruits &
vegetables (e.g. cranberry, carrots, celery), Seaweed etc.
Dietary
supplement is one of the strong emergent segment in Europe and it is
driven (consumed) mainly by women. The peculiarity of the European
market is that it is driven on the basis of health claims.
Regulations
As
such there are few regulations in this industry but there is a need to
develop some concrete regulations which will enable creation of a proper
differentiation between nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals products
which often leads to a misinterpretation when comparing both.
The
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) governs/regulates the food
regulations in the European Union. As EU legislation is Directive
2002/46/EC related to food supplements hence it focusses on food
supplements (which covers proteins, vitamins and minerals).
There
working is also based on by maintaining the list of acceptable vitamin
or minerals substances which needs to be added to food supplements for
defining specific nutritional purposes. Food Supplements Europe (FSE)
which is developed by collaboration with Europe’s nutraceutical
companies enables to diminish or reduce differences in the product
claims as well as recommended daily allowances (RDAs) so as to decrease
the variability from country to country within EU.
Conclusion
Nutraceuticals
involvement in Europe is possessing a great shining market and various
scenarios such as healthcare concerns, lifestyle diseases, increasing
per capita income enables the current market to become a suitable
investing option. The only hurdles seem to be affecting the growth may
be variability in uniform regulatory requirements across countries. In
near future by taking in to account current mentioned aspects, consumers
demand will go on mounting as they will be more concerned, interested
and aware about food content and nutrition.
(Amrit Karmarkar is director at InClinition and can be contacted at amrit@inclinition.com)
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TOPICS
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That foods might provide therapeutic benefits is clearly not a new concept. ...
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