Trend tracker: Muscle health, clean nutrition, emergence of ‘light and strong’ functional foods in China
China supplement market diverging: BY-HEALTH says ‘light and strong’ functionalities emerging as annual revenue grows 15%
China vitamin and dietary supplement (VDS) firm BY-HEALTH says the country’s health foods market is increasingly diverging between either foods/snacks with ‘light’ functionalities or supplements with ‘strong’ functionalities, as it unveiled 15% revenue growth for the last year.
It achieved revenue of RMB$6.09bn (US$936m) last year, up 15.83 per cent yoy, with most of it coming from offline retail.
Net profit attributable to shareholders also turned into the positives at RMB$1.52bn (US$234m), a jump of 528.29 per cent.
Small but growing: Probiotics for inflammation, muscle, diabetes see huge spike in consumer interest
Probiotics that address inflammation, diabetes, and muscle health received the largest percentage growth in terms of the number of consumer reviews globally last year, showing growing interest amongst consumers in these types of products.
On the other hand, probiotics that aid digestion and improve immunity remained the two most reviewed category.
This is according to the latest findings of Lumina Intelligence, the market insights platform operated by William Reed – the publisher of NutraIngredients-Asia.
Daigou still slow: Infant nutrition brands driving sales at mother-and-baby stores, e-commerce in China
Strengthening distribution in mother-and-baby stores, complemented by effective local e-commerce and cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) operations will be the way for overseas infant formula brands to thrive in China, with the daigou channel still seeing weak signs of recovery amid travel restrictions, an industry analyst said.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, there has been significant changes in the way consumers purchase infant formula products.
Pre-COVID, e-commerce was the popular purchase channel of infant formulas in tier one and two cities, while mother-and-baby stores are the go-to in third and fourth tier cities, Michael Norris, research and strategy manager at Agency China told NutraIngredients-Asia.
WATCH: Ajinomoto and AstaReal on amino acids and astaxanthin for preserving muscle mass in elderly
In this month’s Nutrition Asia, we hear from Ajinomoto and AstaReal – two companies which have been researching and developing nutrition products for improving muscle health among older adults.
Recent scientific findings are showing how incidence of falls in elderly is not merely a case of weak bones, but also due to the reduction in muscle mass.
The focus of Ajinomoto for muscle health has been in amino acids, in particular, branched-chain amino acid leucine.
‘Clean nutrition’: OZiva looks to increase product offering following launch of India’s first vegan omega-3 multivitamin
India-based start-up OZiva is planning to launch six to eight new supplements in the first quarter of this year, with the company reporting growing demand for ‘clean nutrition’ products, mostly driven by the plant-based trend.
Founded in 2016, OZiva currently has 23 supplement products, most recently, launching the first-in-India vegan omega-3 multivitamin supplement.
OZiva’s co-founder, Mihir Gadani said: “We are looking at new product launches and strengthening our existing range. With the increase in awareness about plant-based nutrition, we have seen a growing need for clean nutrition amongst consumers.”
