The Future of Functional Foods

Demand for functional food ingredients such as natural vitamin E phytosterol and seaweed are on the rise in Asia.

Over the next few years, industry players in the functional food industry can expect to enjoy a period of dynamic growth. Socio-economic and cultural factors are working in favour of the industry in various global locations and companies that are on top of the drivers in the industry can expect to do well.

Increased Consumer Base The Asian continent is home to more than two-fifths of the global population and during the last decade, Asia, outside of Japan has enjoyed some of the fastest economic growth rates in the world. High economic growth rates have helped to create a growing army of consumers that have helped to spur the consumption of many goods and services in the past decades.

The food industry as a whole has benefited from the increased number of consumers, particularly in Asia. However, Asians have been more than just passive consumers of products produced by the food industry. The Asian consumer class that was created by the economic development is health conscious and demands better quality from food products. This has lead to the growth in demand for products like functional food ingredients, which enhance the value of processed foods and seasonings like “Non-Oil,” a mayonnaise-style seasoning that has calories cut to 1/8, zero cholesterol & zero fat.

Kenichi Yamada, the GM of Riken’s Singapore Application Center, a subsidiary of Japan’s Riken Vitamin says: “Process food manufacturing is on the rise in South-east Asia. This can be seen in the bakery, beverages, ice-cream and meat industries. Due to rising incomes, we see a trend where consumers demand not only more products but also consistently good quality products. This in turn has placed additional demands on our ingredients as we consistently look out for ways in which we can help our customers improve their products to the end user.”

As well as catering to the Asian consumer, companies like Riken are making efforts to understand and develop products that are suitable for specific markets. One example of how the industry has increased its focus on R&D was at the establishment of Riken Vitamin’s Singapore Application Center that was opened in March 2007.

Certification A ‘Must-Have’

One of the ways in which companies are meeting the demands of the consumer for better quality in their foods has been through the obtaining of certification. International quality certifications like ISO9001 and HACCP are becoming a “must have” for the industry. Another form of certification is becoming more important is halal or kosher certification, which is especially important in Asia where the majority of the world’s 
Muslims live.

Mr Yamada says: “Kosher and halal certification is a stringent requirement in the industry. Many aspects of production have to be covered. Every product that comes from our Malaysian factory meets the requirements for halal certification. We are also pursuing other certifications. We are already ISO9001 and HACCP certified and we will soon be ISO 14001 certified.”

Health Trends High economic growth rates have been the catalyst for many social changes in Asia. While most of these changes have been beneficial, the number of lifestyle related diseases like cancer, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol and heart ailments has risen as people work longer hours in high stress environments and reduce their exercise.

This has lead to a demand for functional food ingredients such as natural Vitamin E, phytosterol and seaweed, whose health benefits have recently been unlocked. Mr Yamada notes that: “From the beginning, natural vitamin E and phytosterol are extracted and purified from parts of plant/vegetable oils and fats. The beneficial effects of these series of materials on various lifestyle-related diseases have been revealed and demands for them have been increasing as raw materials for health food 
and medicines.”

He adds: “We hope the industry will rise to the challenge of creating new and more efficient ways of addressing stabilisation of ingredients like natural vitamin E and phytosterol, through technologies like micro-encapsulation technology.”

Updated on 2 Aug 2007, Asia Pacific Food Industry