Asia Pacific leads world market in nutraceutical sales

Agaricus Blazei Murill The Asia Pacific market for nutraceutical products by far exceeds that of North America and Europe, according to data pooled from different market research firms.The region accounted for 44 percent of global nutraceutical sales in 2006, compared to 32 percent for North America and 14 percent for Western Europe. Latin America and Eastern Europe lagged behind at around 3 percent each, while the African, Middle Eastern and Australasian markets jointly accounted for 3 percent of global sales, according to figures drawn together by Capsugel's global business development manager for dietary supplements Peter Zambetti. "Asia Pacific is quite surprisingly the largest global market.  There's a lot of change going on right now, and a lot of opportunities for dietary supplements," he said. Zambetti, who is also in the International Alliance of Dietary/Food Supplement Association's (IADSA) global market affairs department, was addressing attendees at the recent Supply Side East trade show in Secaucus, New Jersey, where he presented an overview of the global nutraceuticals market. Included in Zambetti's definition of 'nutraceuticals' were vitamins, dietary supplements, botanicals, tonics and homeopathic remedies. According to the data he pooled from Euromonitor, Datamonitor, Mintel and Nutrition Business Journal, the global market for these products was worth over $52bn in 2006 - the latest comprehensive figures available - with estimates suggesting that the market has since grown an additional 4-6 percent. The US remained the largest single nation market, with 2006 sales placed at $15.6bn. Japan was the second single largest market, worth $11.4bn despite a significant decline in sales from prior years brought on by regulatory changes that have placed pressure on the industry. China came third, with sales of $5.9bn in 2006, while South Korea was next, with a market valued at $1.9bn. Together with the $1.3bn Taiwanese market, which was the seventh in line in terms of size, these markets in the Asia Pacific region made up around $20.5bn of nutraceutical sales.  Sales in Australia reached around $785m, while Australasia recorded sales of around $891m.