In recent years, the research and cognition of the health function of probiotics have been deepened continuously, probiotics consumption is surging, and the industry development has ushered in a window period. According to the survey data, China’s probiotics industry has a growth rate of more than 20% for three consecutive years, with a huge market space. It is estimated that the global probiotics industry will be worth more than 77 billion US dollars in 2025, with China accounting for more than 25% of the market.
Probiotics industry rises against the trend
In 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 has accelerated consumers’ awareness and attention to health and nutrition products. Among them, probiotic products have become more popular because of the functions of improving the gastrointestinal tract and enhancing immunity.
According to data provided by Chinese Institute of Food Science and Technology, as of 2019, the global probiotic supplement industry has reached 6.10 billion US dollars, and the Chinese probiotic supplement industry has reached 4.24 billion Yuan, an increase of 18% year-on-year. In the first quarter of 2020, the sales growth rate of probiotics industry in China reached more than 20%. And the industry in a special period of the “rising against the trend” shows its market value related to health.
Although the probiotic industry is developing rapidly, some problems have gradually emerged. “Heavy foundation, light application” is a major bottleneck in the development of the current probiotic industry. In addition, there is a lack of research on probiotics and special populations, and inspection technology has become an urgent technical problem to be overcome.
The probiotic industry will develop in the direction of popularization, individualization, and precision, but the work that needs to be done includes the following aspects: in-depth basic research to clarify the efficacy mechanism strengthen technological innovation and reduce production costs; focus on policy formulation to improve market management; and increasing science popularization to enhance consumer awareness.
Participation of enterprises
As one of the fastest-growing segments, the probiotics market has become an inevitable battleground for nutritional food and health industry. As the largest carrier of probiotics, the dairy industry is also optimistic about the probiotics market and is actively innovating fermented milk and infant formula with probiotics added.
The interest in probiotics research has revealed the importance of probiotics in the intestinal tract, which has also helped push more companies to focus on and develop probiotic products and raise consumers’ awareness of probiotics.
In the field of probiotic research, both fundamental research and functional R&D should be emphasized. Dairy enterprises work closely with scientific research institutes and strain production enterprises in probiotic research, and deploy and deepen the development and related study of probiotics. By using new strains to improve products and developing products with different tastes and segments of the population, it not only meets the diverse health needs of consumers, but also injects strong impetus into the rapid development of the probiotics industry
Industry establishes “weights and measures”
Consumers are often at a loss as to how to choose from the wide variety of probiotic health products and foods available on the market. In the process of rapid industrial development, there are also many problems such as improper use of the concept of probiotics, ambiguity of core strains, and difficulty in scientifically defining the nature of function.
As for the definition of probiotics, in 2001, FAO/WHO proposed that probiotics are a group of living microorganisms that, when ingested in sufficient quantities, can play a beneficial role on the host.
Sufficient quantity, viable bacterial status and beneficial health functions are the core characteristics of probiotics. The functions of probiotic health foods approved in China are mainly focused on enhancing immunity and regulating intestinal flora. In addition, probiotic health foods also have the functions of laxative, auxiliary protection of gastric mucosa, digestion promotion, and protective effect on chemical liver injury and so on. At present, China requires that the number of viable bacteria in probiotic health food is not less than 106CFU/mL (g) within the shelf life.
In recent years, China has become increasingly perfect in the construction of laws and regulations related to probiotic health food. The landing of a series of standards and regulation indicates that the probiotic industry has taken an important step in the construction of standards and regulations. Industry experts believe that the word “probiotic” itself has a functional meaning, and the establishment of perfect probiotic function evaluation indexes and systems, as well as the use of the word “probiotic” will be the next key issue to be considered. It is also an important part of balancing government supervision and industrial development needs.
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