Carrageenan Gum Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Chemical Compositions, By Application, Regional Outlook, Competitive Strategies, And Segment Forecasts, 2019 To 2025

The global carrageenan gum market has been witnessing significant growth over the past few years on account of increasing demand from the food & beverage industry and the demand is expected to continue over the forecast period. Increasing health concerns coupled with rising demand for healthy food products one of the key factors to drive the market over the next seven years. Growing demand for food additives, gelling, and emulsifying agents is anticipated to trigger market growth over the next seven years. Increasing demand for hydrocolloids from various industries such as pharmaceutical, food & beverages, personal care & cosmetics is anticipated to complement the market growth over the forecast period. Demand for carrageenan gum is increasing from these end-use industries owing to its superior gelling and viscosity properties. However, the availability of substitutes such as xanthan and cellulose gums is expected to hinder the market growth over the projected period.

Based on various chemical compositions, carrageenan gum can be segmented into iota, kappa, and lambda. Iota and kappa are formed with calcium and potassium salts, which are extensively used as gelling agents in the food & beverage industry. Rising demand for gelling agents in dairy desserts, caramel sauces, dips, and other dairy and non-dairy beverages is the key factor to boost iota and kappa product demand.

Major applications of carrageenan gum include dairy, meat & poultry, water gels, PES (processed eucheuma seaweed) food grades, toothpaste, and others. Dairy product was the largest application segment for carrageenan gum in 2013 owing to its high reactivity towards milk nutrients. It has a wide range of applications in chocolate milk, ice creams, chocolate mixes, and many others. PES food grades are the second major market followed by water gels and meat & poultry. Carrageenan gums find major application in pre-cooked meat and poultry products such as chicken and turkey pieces. Rising consumer demand towards pre-cooked poultry products is the key factor to drive the carrageenan gum market. Other applications include pet food, air freshener gels, toothpaste, and immobilized biocatalysts, which are anticipated to witness considerable growth.

The food & beverage industry emerged as the leading end-use industry over the past few years and it is anticipated to remain as the major end-use segment over the forecast period. Demand for carrageenan gum from this industry has been increasing owing to its widespread application base as a gelling agent. It is extensively used in dairy desserts, caramel sauces, dairy & non-dairy beverages, dips and sauces, instant dry mixes, instant beverages, and other meat applications. Carrageenan possesses strong reactivity with a range of materials especially milk proteins, for which it has found vast application in milk-based products. This is anticipated to have a positive impact on market growth over the forecast period. The pharmaceutical industry is one of the major end-use industries of carrageenan gum owing to its increasing application as gelling agent.

Europe was the largest market for carrageenan gum in 2013. Within Europe, the U.K. and Germany are the leading importers owing to strong demand from end-use industries present in these regions. Asia Pacific was the second-largest market owing to increasing demand from the food & beverage industries in India, China, and Japan. However, North America has been losing its market share over the past few years owing to stringent regulations from the FDA to reduce the usage of carrageenan gums.

Key players of the carrageenan gum market include BLG Shanghai & Zhejiang Plants, Kachabo Gums, Altrafine Gums, Marinalg international, FMC Corporation, Scalzo Food Industries, Cargil Inc., TIC Gums Incorporation and Gum Technology Corporation.