Probiotics – Beyond Food

Probiotic products are moving quickly into the mainstream. Just as consumers once knew about vitamins – vitamin A, B and C are now all household terms – the same development is occurring with probiotics. No longer a buzz word, consumers are becoming more aware of the different strains and their benefits, which is resulting in probiotic-enhanced products becoming a part of daily life.

There is also a growing wave of awareness generally towards nutraceuticals, foods with medical health benefits (also including prebiotics that stimulate the activity of bacteria in the digestive system), of which probiotics are a part.

“Consumer awareness of and interest in probiotic products rose rapidly over the last few years, due in large part to sustained marketing and communication efforts by probiotic yoghurt manufacturers, in particular Danone,” revealed Euromonitor’s report ‘Global Probiotics and Prebiotics: Moving Beyond Digestive Health Status Quo’.

While the report states that yoghurt remains the main application for probiotics, probiotic innovations also go beyond food and are taken in supplements and used in home care and hygiene applications.

Increasing sales and awareness of probiotics

According to a recent study, ‘The Probiotics Market: Ingredients, Supplements, Foods’ by BCC Research, global sales of probiotic ingredients, supplements and foods amounted to $21.6bn in 2010 and are expected to reach $31.1bn by 2015.

Probiotic foods accounted for the largest share with 90.1% of total sales, making around $19.6bn in 2010, a figure that is expected to reach $28.1bn by 2015.

Probiotic supplements made up the second largest share at 6.4% of total sales of $1.3bn in 2010 and is expected to reach $2.07bn by 2015. The study reports that it is “companies with the right mix of access to proprietary probiotic strains, appropriate processing technologies and distribution networks” that will dominate the industry.

One such company is Institut Rosell-Lallemand, which has specialised in the development, production and marketing of probiotic yeast and bacteria since 1932. The company now works with several clearly identified and documented strains, and develops innovative formulations. Its strategy is to document the benefits, not only of the strains but also of the finished products. The formula Probio’Stick contains the documented strains Lactobacillus Rosell-52 and Bifidobacterium Rosell-175 and recent clinical studies have shown its ability to alleviate psychological and physical distress in volunteers.

“Our sales are growing,” says Isabelle Champie, global marketing director for Institut Rosell-Lallemand . “We’re seeing a new generation of products and a trend towards using specific products that are made from different strains and have very different effects -compared with the vitamin market, it is still very early, but the market is gradually becoming more aware. In areas such as IBS, where there is no cure, certain strains are now recognised for their effects and recommended by gastroenterologists.”

Product promotion and development

Until now, probiotic product promotion has centred mostly around intestinal health and immunity benefits; for example, Higher Nature’s top-selling probiotic products are Probio-Daily, which maintains intestinal and immune system balance, and Probio-Intensive, a four-strain probiotic, which has synergistic strains to help maintain digestive and immune health.

However, new areas are starting to emerge, such as pet products, oral care (for example, probiotic mint EvoraPlus from Oragenics) and the improvement of skin health, mainly eczema and dermatitis alleviation in children and beauty enhancement in adult women. The benefits are evident when looking at Vidazorb (a chewable tablet), the sales of which topped $255m last year. Vidazorb’s Belly Boost uses Chr Hansen’s Probio-Tec strains Bifidobacterium BB-12 and S. thermophilus TH-4 and has been considered successful in fighting against children’s eczema.

“Consumers are becoming more aware of the benefits of probiotics and are starting to realise they work best when taken regularly, not just when they have a specific condition,” says E Frank Hodal, Jr, president and CEO of Little Calumet Holdings, creators of Vidazorb. “Clinical research shows that taking probiotics assists in a healthy digestive tract, which allows the body to extract and absorb important nutrients from food we eat and the vitamin supplements we take.”

Top probiotic growth markets

According to Euromonitor’s report, the US is seen as one of the most attractive growth markets and is already the largest market for probiotic supplements with a retail value of over $500m in 2009 and by 2014 should see an increase in sales of $277m. It also reports Italy as a growth market that has been helped by the advertising of the Enterogermina brand by sanofi-aventis.

Russia, China and France also feature among the top growth markets for probiotic supplements, with nutraingredients.com reporting that Russia’s probiotic market has seen an annual growth rate of around 50% in recent years.

In terms of Asia, Euromonitor cites China as the biggest consumer of probiotic cultures in 2009, reaching over 10,000t, and predicts that this will rise to almost 18,000t by 2014, which will account for nearly 30% of global consumption. The market in Japan is saturated, according to Euromonitor, with volumes falling from 6,745t in 2004 to 6,204t in 2009.

A probiotic future

Euromonitor predicts a probiotics push into milk formula, juice and dry food and also a move beyond nutraceuticals into industries such as personal and household care.

“Oral health has the potential to become the next major application for probiotics,” reveals the Euromonitor report. “Apart from oral health supplements, strong potential also exists in functional gum as well as toothpaste / mouthwash products.”

Luc Monbourquette, strategic sales manager, human health and nutrition at Chr Hansen, is optimistic about the continued growth of the probiotic market – as long as the consumer can be informed about the different strains, just as they are now about the different vitamins and the benefits of each.

“The future is bright for probiotics, but we need to be mindful that it’s the strain-specific science that makes a product a probiotic,” he says. “We need to continue to educate the consumer so they can purchase products that truly perform.”