COSIMO PALUMBO
Indena, Milan, Italy

Abstract

The demand for natural and herbal supplements is unstoppable with consumers look for products able to maintain the overall wellbeing over the course of their life. There is a growing need of scientifically supported information around health foods and supplements, to make informed choices: especially millennials, who are conscious consumers requiring specific features such as transparency, scientific substantiation and validation profile, not to mention that these products must be obtained from production chains and processes fully compliant with the best practices and consistent with traditional dietary uses. But, what is there behind this growth? Which are the trends, the new perspectives and the most recent innovations in this field? What is the role of producers?

Global Supplements Market: An Overview

According to Nutrition Business Journal, the global supplements market grew by 5.7% in 2016, reaching $ 121.2 billion in sales and recovering from slowing in 2014 and 2015. The growth is expected to be stable, reaching $ 155 billion in 2020. Herbs & botanicals is increasingly becoming one of the most important categories, accounting more than 20% of the total supplements market. With regards to the differences among regions, United States is the market leader showing the most significant growth nearly doubling over the past ten years, reaching $ 41 billion in 2016. The market is expected to surpass $ 50 billion sales in 2020, with a 22% CAGR (2016-2020). Among the main supplements categories, Sports, Meal, Homeopathic and Specialty Supplements have gained the most market share (43.9%), up from 38.4% in 2006 and exceeding Vitamins & minerals (38,0%), while Herbs & botanicals account for about 18%. Shifting the focus on Asian countries, China is the fastest growing one: the increasing awareness of consumers generated almost $ 1 billion growth each year and supplements sales reached a total of $ 17.0 billion i ...