Accelerating Health Innovation™

US food and beverages additives demand to reach $8.6 billion in 2012

According to the Freedonia Group report, Food & Beverage Additives, US demand for such additives is projected to reach $8.6 billion in 2012, a 4.4% annual increase fueled by interest in improving product quality and controlling costs and by the increasing use of probiotics in various products. The growing use of nutraceuticals beyond traditional applications is expected to result in strong gains there. The largest product category is expected to continue to be flavor products and alternative sweeteners as companies try to keep up with changing flavor preferences. Alternative sweeteners are being used more frequently, though the sluggish soft drink market and studies linking diet soft drink consumption with obesity could reduce overall gains. Efforts to commercialize sweetener alternatives such as stevia indicate a continuing search for the "perfect sweetener." Freedonia projects nutraceutical demand will grow 8.2% annually to reach $950 million in 2012. It expects demand for flavors and flavor enhancers to grow 3.5% to $2.77 billion in the period. Alternative sweetener demand growth is expected to be 4% a year and to reach $1.08 billion in 2012, while texturizers and fat replacers could see 4.8% growth in demand ot $1.06 billion in the period. Demand for products in the "others" category is expected to increase 4.1% a year to $2.73 billion. Another article on the study (referred to in this instance as "preliminary") reports the current value of the additives market to be $6.9 billion, with flavors and flavor enhancers making up 33.7% of the market. This piece notes flattening or declines in the demand for low- and no-fat foods could limit gains in the flavors sector, while growth will be driven by the combination of flavors with nutraceuticals ingredients. The alternative sweetener category is reported to be growing at 12.8% per year, with continual development of "blends including several polyols and one or more high-intensity sweeteners." A pie chart in this article shows the percentage share of categories that make up the overall additives market. The short piece also notes Givaudan’s sale of its St. Louis facility to Performance Chemicals & Ingredients [Alert 27516] as an example of M&A activity in the flavors segment, adding the facility sold "produces flavor bases and fruit preparations used to make ice cream." (Chemical Week 10 Mar 08)

Nutraceuticals International
3/1/2008