The dietary supplements industry has been predicted to be worth a USD$131 by 2016 in a new report by Future Market Insight (FMI), an American research house.

 

Demand for dietary supplements has been attributed to a strong Baby Boomer market and a developing interest in younger generations.

 

The growth is set to be strongest in Latin America and Asia, although new legislation currently being drafted by the Chinese government could upset growth within the industry.

 

Dairy Reporter recently wrote online that the Chinese General Administration of Quality Supervision inspection and Quarantine issued draft legislation regarding online sales and imports into China.If passed, the new laws will see a crackdown on internet purchases.

 

Until now, sales made online have been able to escape regulatory scrutiny and have not been properly labelled to the China regulatory requirements. However, the new regulation will require such online products to meet the same regulatory criteria as those coming into China through convention, non-online means. This threatens to have an enormous impact on the continuation of this ‘grey market’ of infant formula products and complementary healthcare products, such as dietary supplements, being sold from sellers outside of China.

 

However the change in China’s one baby per family policy to two children per family will have a counter benefit for suppliers.

 

Safety and efficiency concerns further challenge industry

 

Despite the draft legislation and the change in China’s one-policy too recent to likely be included in FMI’s predictions for 2016, the research provider has also identified product safety and efficiency concerns as industry wide challenges.

 

“The investigation by New York attorney general on store-branded dietary supplements brought bad press to the industry. Also, reports by JAMA and Harvard were critical of certain dietary supplements, further eroding the trust among consumers,” said Essien Jae, a lead consultant at FMI.

 

Females more likely to consume supplements

 

FMI’s research has previously found that dietary supplement use is slightly higher amongst the female population. Across 2014 women brought a USD$61 billion worth of supplements for themselves whilst men only purchased USD$27 billion.

 

Pharmacy or drug stores are the main place of purchase for supplements with 40 per cent of all sales in 2014 occuring in these types of stores. Health stores and websites were the other major places consumers choose to shop.

 

Currently, North America is the largest market for dietary supplements with the report estimating USD$41.83 billion worth of sales will occur in this region in 2016. This is an increase from 2015’s USD$39.41 billion.

 

Who is Future Market Insight?

 
Future Market Insights is a US-based provider of syndicated research reports, custom research reports, and consulting services.