Dive Brief:
- In the growing market for functional foods, manufacturers are gaining market share in burgeoning categories. Ingredion executives have identified a developing functional trend, the microbiome and are exploring the best ways to use this trend to meet customer and consumer needs.
- The company's history of accurately naming viable trends indicates the microbiome could have an increased industry focus in product formulation.
- Ingredion is looking at how it might collaborate with probiotic supplying companies to develop targeted prebiotics. MarketsandMarkets estimates the 2015 global probiotic ingredients market at $33.19 billion and projects it will reach $46.55 billion by 2020.
Dive Insight:
In an interview with Food Dive following Ingredion's presentation at CAGNY, Jim Zallie (pictured right), executive vice president, global specialties and president, Americas, and Tony DeLio (left), chief innovation officer and senior vice president, outlined details regarding microbiome.
"It is obviously something that's gaining a lot of traction," Zallie said. But it is in the early stages and there is much to be determined.
"Is this going to be a personalized nutrition play or is there more of a mass nutrition play? That's what's unknown at this point," DeLio added.
Mintel included functional foods and beverages, particularly in the realm of sports nutrition, in its list of critical food industry trends manufacturers would adapt to in the coming year. According to a 2015 report, MarketsandMarkets expects the global functional food ingredients market to hit about $2.5 billion by 2020, with a compound annual growth rate of about 6% between 2015 and 2020.