Having been profoundly successful in transforming the dynamics of F&B industry, synthetic food market is indeed turning out to be a prominent business vertical. The rapid growth in worldwide population that has widened the demand & supply gap of nutritious food has been acknowledged as the key propeller of synthetic food market. Reportedly, the global population is expected to cross 8.5 billion by 2030 and the food industry is likely to observe per capita consumption per day of 3050 kcal by 2030. Experts deem that the alarming rise in the global population has posed a major challenge for F&B industry in terms of balancing the food demands. In the backdrop of this afflicting scenario, synthetic food market with its wide portfolio of RTE & RTC products is expected to witness an exceptional growth in the coming years.
North America Synthetic Flavour & Fragrances Food Market, By Application, 2016 & 2024 (Kilo Tons)
Speaking along similar lines, a change in lifestyle that has given rise to dual-income-families, numerous food delivery apps, and diminishing culinary skills has triggered the rising adoption of RTE, RTC, canned, packaged, and processed food items. These products have become popular among the urban consumers in no time mainly because of the convenience they offer. In fact, facts state that the global processed food industry generated over USD 4.6 trillion business in 2016. The statistics further affirm ultra-processed food types such as cereals, ice-creams, cakes, and breads to have contributed to 55% of the daily consumption products. The data goes on to signify that the rising demand for artificial additives that imitates natural foods by recreation of flavor, color, appearance, and palatability is on a significant high – a factor rapidly propelling synthetic food industry share.
Synthetic food market to witness heavy demand from beverages & bakery applications
The aforementioned facts are evident enough that the fast-paced urban lifestyles of consumers have generated greater demand for processed food products. Unsurprisingly, on these grounds, the synthetic food market is gaining remarkable proceeds especially from the beverages, bakery & confectionery applications. The rising consumption of pasties, pies, aeriated drinks, juice, soda, donuts, and cakes have been the leading factor influencing segment growth. Reliable estimates reveal that the bakery & confectionery market from the fragrances & flavor additives held 19% of industry share in 2016. While beverages application from colors is projected to register a CAGR of 7.5% over 2017-2024. The aforesaid statistics bear testimony to the fact that these application segments stand as major opportunistic grounds for synthetic food industry vendors to ramp up their business in the coming years.
What could go wrong?
Synthetic food market growth sounds very promising until the realities behind the rhetoric are considered. The consumer shift toward packaged and ready-to-eat food is proving to be highly beneficial to the global synthetic food industry participants. However, the rising popularity of organic food & their potential health benefits is a key challenge for this market. Consumer’s growing health consciousness regarding artificial components has, in turn, fortified demand for natural products over the synthetic alternatives. Another trend that is categorized as a major threat for synthetic food industry growth in terms of product value is the rising trend of synthesizing popular products like milk. Synthetic milk is an artificial imitation of natural milk with high degree of adulteration that is produced chemically by mixing calculated amount of caustic soda, urea, common detergents, and refined oil. These synthetic milk components have harmful effects on human health and this practice unfortunately has gained momentum in myriad regions.
Nonetheless, stringent government regulations to keep in check the usage of food ingredients that have adverse effect on health is likely to boost the growth scenario of synthetic food market. The companies, in a bid to cope up with these challenges, are strictly abiding by FDA guidelines, in terms of ingredient usage. All in all, with anticipated trends of new products in sync with the health quotients of the consumers, food market is anticipated to expand at a promising pace in the coming years. For the record, in terms of commercialization, synthetic food market is forecast to register a y-o-y growth of 5% over 2017-2024.