The findings, released by Market analyst Zenith International, suggest that segment demand rose by nine per cent in 2008, with the momentum expected to remain stable. despite concerns consumers may be look to spend down on certain luxurious goods.
Consumption of nutraceutical beverages is expected to reach 5,600 million litres by 2013 from 3,700 million litres in 2008, the findings predicted.
Future growth is expected across all global regions, though the Middle East and Latin America were selected as markets showing early potential from a small growth base, according to Zenith.
Key to pushing this demand were the US and Japanese markets, which dominated global sales of nutraceutical drinks, accounting for 47 per cent and 37 per cent market shares respectively during the previous year. By comparison, other Asian markets were found to amount to nine per cent of demand for the products, while Western Europe represented six per cent of global sales.
Gary Roethenbaugh, market intelligence director for Zenith said that ongoing growth within the nutraceutical drink segment was linked to a shift in the market from the once dominant independent businesses that provided more targeted niche brands to consumers.
“Growing competition from mainstream beverage players has encouraged innovation and helped establish greater credibility in the eyes of consumers,” he stated. "Still a small sector in relative terms, nutraceuticals offer premium value and continued growth prospects."
Niche shift
Major suppliers such as Nestle, Coca-Cola, Danone and Pepsi-Co, were all singled out by the analyst as actively pursuing opportunities for the products on the current European market.
Zenith suggested in the report that tightened legislation on the types of health claims attributable to food and drink products had reassured many consumers over the efficacy of nutraceutical drinks.
As a result of this reported consumer confidence, a number of health functions were found to be particularly popular amongst consumers such as beauty, weight management, heart health, stress relief and cognitive function, the report stated.