The future of the functional food market looks bright; the worldwide revenue for functional food is projected to increase from about 300 billion U.S. dollars in 2017 to over 440 billion dollars in 2022. At present, there is no universally accepted definition of functional foods. But, according to the International Food Information Council (IFIC), functional foods are “foods or food components that may provide benefits beyond basic nutrition”. Popular product types worldwide include vitamins and dietary supplements, functional beverages such as sport and energy drinks, as well as products fortified with probiotics.
The U.S. market has been invigorated by foods containing added value and/or disease-preventing products. Thereby, each single market faces its own challenges. Functional beverages gained attention from health-conscious consumers, driving sales of shelf-stable water to grow by 740 percent and probiotic plant based milks to grow about 270 percent between 2016 and 2017. According to a new report, approximately 24 percent of juice and juice drink product launches featured a functional claim.
Probiotics have garnered a great deal of good press in recent years; with medical professionals and health gurus proclaiming their benefits for a slew of various health problems. As a result, dollar sales of probiotic products have grown steadily since 2014. Within the category, health-promoting probiotic yogurts will reach approximately 45 billion U.S. dollars in global sales by 2018.
Survey results have revealed that eight percent of U.S. consumers think of vitamins and supplements as having health benefits beyond basic nutrition, which is quite low compared to the share that believe in the health benefits of fruits and vegetables. However, when selecting non-alcoholic beverages, about 21 percent of Americans consider health and nutritional attributes to be most important.
The U.S. market has been invigorated by foods containing added value and/or disease-preventing products. Thereby, each single market faces its own challenges. Functional beverages gained attention from health-conscious consumers, driving sales of shelf-stable water to grow by 740 percent and probiotic plant based milks to grow about 270 percent between 2016 and 2017. According to a new report, approximately 24 percent of juice and juice drink product launches featured a functional claim.
Probiotics have garnered a great deal of good press in recent years; with medical professionals and health gurus proclaiming their benefits for a slew of various health problems. As a result, dollar sales of probiotic products have grown steadily since 2014. Within the category, health-promoting probiotic yogurts will reach approximately 45 billion U.S. dollars in global sales by 2018.
Survey results have revealed that eight percent of U.S. consumers think of vitamins and supplements as having health benefits beyond basic nutrition, which is quite low compared to the share that believe in the health benefits of fruits and vegetables. However, when selecting non-alcoholic beverages, about 21 percent of Americans consider health and nutritional attributes to be most important.
