Global Prebiotics Market

Description

Prebiotics are specialised plant fibers, which cannot be absorbed or broken down by the body and that helps nourish the good bacteria residing in the large bowel/colon or in simple terms they act as a fertilizer for the good bacteria present there facilitatingtheir growth and hence the good-bad bacteria ratio, which is observed to have a direct correlation to our health and overall well-being, from the stomach to the brain.

Market Dynamics

Consumers increased desired to achieve optimal health by choosing healthier food and drink options with increased emphasis on balanced diet has resulted in them opting for naturally healthy food and beverages that will satisfy their daily nutritional needs. Some of the major growth drivers for the global prebiotics market are consumers strong interest in general health maintenance with products perceived to be contributing to the maintenance of good health increasing in popularity, increasing demand for functional food and dietary supplements due to rising emphasis on digestive health arising from concerns towards obesity and other lifestyle diseases, consumer’s access to wealth of information with both the Internet and the mainstream press contributing by publishing articles on health ingredients, emerging market middle class growth with prebiotics becoming affordable to a rising number of emerging market consumers, and finally government health campaigns leading to rising consumer awareness about the importance of a healthy diet, especially with regards to obesity prevention. The global prebiotic market is also driven by the demand from food and beverage manufacturers who have started adding prebiotic fibres like inulin, fructo-oligosaccharides, polydextrose, some granular resistant starches, xanthan gum and pectin as functional prebiotic ingredients for reasons related to processing, texture, calorie-reduction, as bulking agents and hydrocolloids. The market is driven in turn driven by the demand for some products whose positioning relies majorly on ‘fibre’ with companies such as breakfast cereal manufacturers (especially Kellogg) keen to add a “high in fibre” or “good source of fibre” claim on the product packaging. Another message that features prominently on products containing prebiotics is the products‟ benefits in terms of weight management, e.g. Alpen Light, or the popular NÖM fasten products in Austria.

Market Segmentation

The global prebiotic market is segmented on the basis of application into
• Dairy
• Baked foods
• Animal Feed
• Dry foods
• Cereals
• Fermented meat products
• Dietary Supplements
• Other

The market is also segmented on the basis of ingredients into
• Inulin
• Galacto-oligosaccharide (GOS)
• Fructooligosaccharides (FOS)
• Mannan-oligosaccharide (MOS)

It can also be segmented on the basis of region into
• Americas
• EMEA
• Asia-Pacific

Regional/Geographic Analysis:

Americas
Growing emphasis on digestive health in countries like America where lifestyle diseases like diabetes and obesity is increasingly cited as major health concern, rising demand for sugar and fat free dairy products and stringent regulations regarding the use of antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) coupled with high dairy and meat product consumption are some of the factors influencing the demand for prebiotics in the region.

EMEA
European consumers willingness to pay premium prices for products incorporating preventive health management, rising consumers awareness for gut health, significant application of these products in the food and beverages application segment along with the growing demand for packaged food owing to tight work life schedules in the region

Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific, in particular China, India and Japan, are projected to dominate the prebiotic market in the region due to an increase in demand for nutraceuticals and growing livestock production for meat consumption, both resulting from the region’s rapidly growing population, burgeoning middle-class, increasing disposable incomes resulting from rising per-capita income

Key Players

Some of the key players in this market are
• Cargill, Friesland
• Campina
• Beneo GmbH
• Abbott Laboratories
• Yakult Pharmaceutical
• Beghin Meiji
• Cosucra Groupe Warcoing SA
• Ingredion Incorporated
• Royal Cosun