Specialty Food Ingredients Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product [Sensory (Enzymes, Emulsifiers, Flavors & Colorants) & Functional (Vitamins, Minerals, Antioxidants, Preservatives)}, And Segment Forecasts, 2018 - 2025

Industry Insights

The global specialty food ingredients market size was valued at USD 70.34 billion in 2015. Increasing demand for processed & convenience foodstuff, shift in demand for higher nutritious and organic products are expected to drive the industry. 

Specialty ingredients are the foremost important products that guarantee the wellbeing of the vast range of processed foods. Specialty ingredients that range from a wide variety of macro ingredients such as fibers, carbohydrates, fats & specific proteins to other micro-ingredients including minerals, vitamins & enzymes, all typically perform various functional activities thus enhancing the diet quality and taste.

These ingredients customarily preserve the texture, enhance color, emulsify, add benefits in processing, and ultimately add a superfluous edge health dimension to the produced food. The health, nutritional, and technological related functions of these products make the diet pleasant for consumption, tasty, safe, healthy, and even affordable. Hence, these advantages associated with the specialty food ingredients are expected to be the major driving factors of the industry.

Apart from these benefits, these constituents are considered as one of the few major options suitable for sustainable processing of foodstuff. These ingredients provide solutions to enhance the efficiency of resources by reducing downstream losses and the entire value chain owing to their extremely effective impact during the storage and processing of food.

Ingredients use almost every valuable component of raw materials thus improving the efficiency of resources and raw materials. These products optimize the quantity of raw material required during processing which results in less energy consumption, hence resulting in the reduction of greenhouse gas.

Some of the specialty ingredients such as the packaging gases & preservatives also help in reducing wastage of food as it extends the shelf-life of the finished/processed products. These types of benefits of these elements are the major factors that are anticipated to augment further demand over the forecast period.

The development of new technologies such as the decaffeination of coffee beans that reduces the gastro-oesophageal reflux in both patients and healthy people with reflux disease adds to the increasing importance of functional ingredients. Various organic technologies for processing of ingredients, nutritional supplements, flavor components, processing aids, and reagents have been formulated in the recent past, which is a major trend expected to drive demand for these products owing to the shift in consumer demand for organic foodstuff.

The global industry has witnessed the entrance of a large number of participants mainly of the multinationals. Several companies have been involved in aggressive mergers and acquisitions to enhance their product portfolios to cater to the changing consumer preferences as customized needs for foodstuff manufacturers. Multinationals are acquiring medium level companies that are specialized in technological advancement but lack funds for expansion. Such initiatives are some of the major trends in the industry and hence is driving the overall market in recent years.

Product Insights

The specialty sensory food ingredient segment was the largest product segment in 2016 and is expected to reach a net worth exceeding USD 8 billion by 2025 growing at a CAGR of 5.3% from 2016 to 2025. Sensory ingredients are vital for enhancing the taste, smell, flavor, and texture of food products. Increasing demand for these ingredients for applications in packaged& convenience foodstuffs and confectioneries are expected to be a major factor driving product demand. 

Flavors, enzymes, colorants, and emulsifiers are the key sensory elements. Enzymes are used owing to their highly active nature of enhanced reactions and function uniquely to control flavor, texture, process time, extended shelf life, and less use of chemical additives. Flavors are one of the most significant constituents as it gives taste to the finished cuisine or product. This segment is characterized as innovative, technical, and specialized in nature and its growth parameters include changing lifestyle of consumers and increased demand for convenience foodstuff.

Emulsifiers are used for its blending effects such as modifying oil crystals and preventing water spattering and make the appearance more appealing. Emulsifiers are used in bread, ice creams, minced fish products, and tofu. These qualities of specialty ingredients are the major factors driving their demand over the forecast period. The colorants also have applications in various types of items including alcoholic & non-alcoholic beverages, bakery stuff, and packaged ready to eat meals.

Functional ingredients include acidulants, preservatives, antioxidants, and other constituents that add nutritional qualities in foodstuff. Increasing geriatric population, consumer awareness towards healthy living, healthcare costs, and changing sedentary lifestyles are some parameters that have led to the growth of this segment.

Vitamins have widespread uses in meals, fortification in oils and fats, supplements, and infant formula. The types of vitamins to be used depends upon the formulation requirements. Minerals are one of the major components of a balanced diet consumed by humans. One another application of minerals is aiding the function of certain vitamins such as calcium which helps in the absorbance of vitamin-D by the cells from the diet.

Antioxidant as a key ingredient has the function to protect finished products against fouling such as fat rancidity and color changes due to oxidation caused by bacteria, fungi, molds, and yeasts. The types of antioxidants are dependent upon the formulation requirement of the type of diet. Preservatives are used for preserving the quality for a longer period without any harm. Changing consumer preference for safe and hygienic packed sustenance items especially in the developed regions is expected to be the major driver for the specialty food ingredients market.

These explicit product qualities have helped the manufacturers cater to the specific requirements of the processors, which is anticipated to boost the market in the next eight years.

Regional Insights

Asia Pacific was the largest regional market globally and is expected to generate revenue exceeding USD 39 billion by 2025. The region hosts the largest food processing industry globally. China has the highest number of processing and specialty ingredients manufacturing companies in the region. 

Along with this, several industry players are shifting their production bases to the emerging economies in the region such as India, Thailand, and Vietnam owing to the increasing availability of skilled but cheap workforce. China is also one of the leading exporters of these ingredients. Owing to these factors demand in the Asia Pacific is expected to remain the highest globally.

Europe was the second-largest market in 2016. Europe has always been known for its world-famous cuisines and with a shift in consumer demand, various innovations of new recipes happen from time to time. Countries in the region such as France, Italy, and Belgium are some of the largest importers of specialty ingredients.

The presence of a reasonable number of processing and confectionery companies in Germany and the U.K. adds to the production and demand of specialty food ingredients.

Specialty Food Ingredients Market Share Insights

Major industry participants include Naturex, Frutarom, KF Specialty Ingredients, Ingredion, DuPont, PPG Industries, Evonik, Kerry Group, and Ashland Inc. The global market is extremely competitive owing to the presence of various fully-integrated multinationals that already have well-established channels for distribution and procurement globally.

Stringent regulations globally are seen as more favorable for the organic or naturally derived food ingredients compared to the artificially derived ingredients. The foremost apprehension in the present scenario is the preparation procedures of the organic raw materials along with minimal consumption of artificially derived elements with strict adherence to the regulations.

Report Scope

Segments Covered in the Report

This report forecasts revenue growth at global, regional & country levels and provides an analysis of the industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2014 to 2025. For the purpose of this study, Grand View Research has segmented the global specialty food ingredients market on the basis of source, technology, and region:

• Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025)

  • Specialty sensory ingredients

    • Enzymes

    • Emulsifiers

    • Flavors

    • Colorants

    • Others

  • Specialty functional ingredients

    • Vitamins

    • Minerals

    • Antioxidants

    • Preservatives

    • Others

• Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025)

  • North America

    • The U.S.

    • Mexico

  • Europe

    • Germany

    • The U.K.

    • France

  • Asia Pacific

    • China

    • India

  • Central & South America (CSA)

    • Brazil

  • Middle East & Africa

    • Saudi Arabia