DUIVEN, The Netherlands—The $10 billion market for functional food and beverages aimed at digestive health us thriving, according to market researcher Innova Market Insights that tracked more than 4,000 launches globally marketed on a gut or digestive health platform in 2009, up from about 2,000 just five years ago.
The emergence of new-style dairy products, most notably probiotic yogurts and dairy drinks has moved the market forward. Dairy products accounted for more than 40 percent of the gut/digestive health launches. Baby food was the next most popular category for using gut health claims, ahead of bakery and cereal products. Europe accounted for a leading one-third of the product launches on a gut or digestive health platform last year, just ahead of the United States (28 percent).
“It appears that high levels of interest in gut/digestive health foods are continuing. It has been a key focus for European product activity for a number of years, and U.S. levels of interest have risen sharply over the past five years to create a market combining interest in developing established high-fiber products on the one hand and the newer probiotic dairy lines on the other,” said LuAnn Williams, Innova Market Insights.
