| | The Canadian nutraceutical, natural health product (NHP) and functional food industry has garnered a great deal of attention in recent years from several sectors. These products are being developed by companies globally in response to growing consumer demand for healthier food - and to create higher-margin, value-added products for the manufacturers and inevitably their customers and shareholders.
Current world consumption of NHP, nutraceuticals and functional foods is estimated to be between $70 and $250 billion annually depending upon the product categories that are included in the statistics. In 2001, the U.S. industry journal Nutrition Business Journal (NBJ) estimated the global market to be approximately $150 billion US. Canada accounts for 3% of the global market.
The U.S. is the largest importer of Canadian nutraceuticals and functional foods. In the U.S., the sale of nutrition products consisting of natural health products (including dietary supplements and herbs), natural and organic foods, functional foods and natural personal care products, generated $53 billion in consumer sales in 2001. Of interest to value-added agriculture, an approximate 7 to10% annual growth rate over the next three years is anticipated for dietary supplements, functional foods and nutraceuticals with the greatest gains in mass-market sales rather than health food stores. In comparison, the $466 billion conventional food business is growing at a yearly rate of only 2-3%.
The market size for functional foods worldwide was approximately $55.5 billion in 2001 and represents a growing segment of the nutrition industry. According to very recent statistics published by the NBJ, the U.S. functional food market grew 9.1% to sales of $20.6 billion in 2002, generated by an expanding range of fortified foods with improved ingredients and taste. Functional foods represented 3.7% of total food sales. Non-functional food sales grew 1.4% and total food sales grew 1.6%. By 2010, NBJ expects functional food sales to represent 5.2% of total food sales in the U.S., or approximately $ 31.2 billion.
A significant potential exists for beta-glucans from oats and barley as functional food and nutraceutical ingredients. In January 1997, the FDA approved the first food specific health claim for the relationship between consumption of whole oat products and coronary heart disease risk reduction as a result of a petition by Quaker Oats Company. As a result, the retail volume of a close to one-hundred-year-old traditional food product, Cheerios, jumped 11% in 1999 with the news that whole-grain oats can reduce blood cholesterol levels! This is an example of "leveraging inherent health benefits" from an agricultural product.
Functional foods will continue to grow at a strong and steady pace as consumer interest and acceptance of these products and scientific substantiation of safety and efficacy increases. The global market and numerous environmental trends for functional foods and nutraceuticals will be described in this presentation. The market opportunities and challenges for the research community as well as for producers and manufacturers of barley beta-glucan ingredients will be highlighted.
Kelley C. Fitzpatrick
Marketing and Research Development Manager
Richardson Centre for Functional Foods & Nutraceuticals
Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2
Presented at the 3rd Canadian Barley Symposium, June 19-20, 2003 |
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