Due to rising awareness about health and fitness and changing lifestyle, India's Nutraceuticals market is likely to cross US$ 6.1 billion by 2020 from the current level of US$ 2.8 billion growing at compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 17%, according to a study on 'Indian Nutraceuticals, Herbals, and Functional Foods Industry: Emerging on Global Map,' jointly conducted by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and RNCOS.
United States (US) has the largest market for nutraceuticals, followed by Asia-Pacific and European Union. Functional food is the fastest growing segment in the US nutraceuticals market. Germany, France, UK and Italy are the major markets in the European Union for nutraceuticals.
Japan (14%) is the major consumer of nutraceuticals in Asia-Pacific, followed by China (10%). The Indian nutraceuticals market is at a nascent stage but fast emerging. India accounts for around 1.5% of the global market, which is anticipated to increase owing to country's large population base, increasing urban belt and awareness, noted the ASSOCHAM-RNCOS study.
Releasing the joint study, Mr. D S Rawat, Secretary General ASSOCHAM said, Nutraceuticals, Herbals and Functional Foods in India are covered under the definition of food as per Section 22 of Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006. These food products have been categorized as Non-Standardized/special food products.
At present, India does not have any kind of regulatory guidelines for the approval or monitoring of the products under this segment. These products are regulated under the guidelines of FSSA, 2006 amended in 2011 for registration, licensing, approval, labeling & packaging, import, marketing & distribution, laboratory testing like conventional food products.
FSSAI should come up with properly framed guidelines related to manufacturing, storage, packaging & labeling, distribution, sales, claims and imports. This will bring clarity to the industry stakeholders and they can invest into the industry with no fear of counterfeiting, said Mr. Rawat.
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In the absence of regulations, the products take much longer to reach the market. For industry growth, it is utmost necessary to give faster approvals for eligible nutraceuticals, noted Mr. Rawat.
In urban India, penetration is around 22% whereas in rural it is as low as 6%. Lack of awareness is the major reason. For faster growth of the domestic market, both private players and government should create awareness about the health benefits of nutraceuticals among masses through campaigns, social media and television.
Counterfeit and un-registered/un-approved products should be called-off from the market as these products bring bad name to the industry. Small committees should be built at block levels to check the counterfeit products in the market and immediately discard them.
All products, before reaching the market should go through rigorous testing and it should not be compromised at any cost. An exponential growth has been noticed the number of food testing labs in
The Government should also provide special incentives and subsidies to emerging companies for the industry growth. The funding will help companies to use improved process technology and come up with quality nutraceuticals.
Financial support will also help Indian talent to innovate cost effective nutraceuticals. The products available in the market are majorly targeted to upper-middle class leaving a vast potential. To catch the masses, nutraceuticals for all should be the target concept.
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