Trend tracker: Nutra sales on TikTok Shop Indonesia, creatine boom in India, probiotics for sports

TikTok Shop reopens in Indonesia but supplement sales yet to return to pre-closure volumes​

Dietary supplements sales on the re-opened TikTok shop in Indonesia are struggling to get back to previous heights, despite other categories such as FMCG and beauty products soaring.

This is according to Indonesia e-commerce market research firm Compas.co.id.

It noticed that the dietary supplement category on TikTok has experienced a notable decrease in sales quantity, down by 38 per cent as compared to the period before its closure on October 4 last year.

‘Mind-boggling creatine boom’: MuscleBlaze founder on huge growth in India, Singapore, US – LISTEN​

There is a never-before-seen demand and online searches for creatine among gym and sports enthusiasts, says Kaustuv Paliwal, who founded India-based sports nutrition brand MuscleBlaze about 12 years ago.

In the past year, sales of MuscleBlaze’s creatine products had tripled and the rising popularity is not only evident in India, but also other markets such as the US and Singapore, where online searches for creatine had surpassed that of whey protein.

A key reason for taking creatine, according to Kaustuv, is for improving muscle strength. The uptake of creatine has therefore, increased with the growing popularity of resistance training for muscle-training or fat loss among both males and females.

South Korea, Brazil fastest growing markets for sports nutrition probiotics – Synbio Tech​  

South Korea has become the fastest growing markets in APAC for incorporating probiotics into sports nutrition products, says supplier firm Synbio Tech, which is known for its probiotic strain Lactiplantibacillus plantarum TWK10.

In South Korea, the strain, isolated from Taiwan fermented cabbage, is allowed to make the claim “may help to improve endurance of exercise performance capability.”​​

One example of a recent product launch was CJ Wellcare’s BYOcore Power Up Lactobacillus, a capsule product which contains 10 billion CFU of TWK10, pantothenic acid, and selenium.

‘Huge consumer segments’: India’s Ishaanav sees nutra opportunities for pre-diabetes, PCOS​

India’s Ishaanav Nutraceuticals is seeing opportunities for the use of health supplements to manage conditions that currently do not have a specific pharmaceutical intervention, such as pre-diabetes and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

The contract manufacturer, which also produces its own nutraceutical products, says that there is demand coming from doctors for nutraceuticals to alleviate these health conditions.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, stress management, hepatitis A, and viral infections are some of the other conditions where nutraceuticals are sought after due to the lack of pharmaceutical options.

Probiotics in Asia: Bloating from dietary habits, women’s health top reasons for supplementation – Life-Space​

Bloating arising from dietary habits and women’s health are the top reasons for probiotic supplementation in Asian countries, according to Life-Space.

The subsidiary of China dietary supplement giant BY-HEALTH believes that bloating, diarrhoea, and women’s health would continue to drive probiotics uptake in the region this year.

Supporting digestive health, especially addressing bloating arising from consuming certain Asian cuisines, is a key reason for taking probiotics, according to Alan Yi, general manager of Life-Space Group.