$40bn personalised nutrition market tapped for growth with Xampla and Lehmann tie-up
The collaboration will give fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands the ability to fortify food and drink products with vitamin D by encapsulating it within Xamplaâs microscopic, digestible microcapsules engineered from plant proteins. It will then be distributed to FMCG brands by Lehmann.
Xampla already partners with companies including Britvic and Chinese dairy company Yili, but viewed the Lehmann partnership as another way of delivering on the growing multi-billion dollar personalised nutrition market.
âPersonalised nutrition is growing quickly,â Xampla head of business development Stanley Mitchell told FoodNavigator. âThis partnership is about identifying new and active cargos and we continue to do a lot of the R&D work with partners that have specific needs.
âWe hope to bring microcapsules to a broader market through partnerships because we think theyâre addressing a consumer health need.â
How much is the global personalised nutrition market worth?The personalised nutrition market had reached between $15bn and $17bn last year, with projected growth of up to nearly $40bn over seven years, various estimates suggested.
Lehmann Ingredientsâ director Charlie Lehmann said: âProducts that support a healthy lifestyle are a significant trend in the industry, with over half (57%) of consumers preferring to get their vitamins from food and drink rather than tablets.â
Read more: Functional drinks among top four global drinks trendsâ Along with exploiting personalised nutritionâs global growth, there was a general need to include better nutritional ingredients in food and drink products, especially vitamin D where widespread deficiencies had been identified globally, said Mitchell.
âItâs about recognising how we can deliver them [vitamins] more effectively. A product is going to look exciting when it comes to market with benefits,â said Mitchell, specifying the potential for rising consumer excitement around products where health claims would not usually be seen.
Making vitamins stable in food and drinkHealth claims might not be seen in some food or drinks because they canât be stabilised, he explained. However, Xamplaâs microcapsules counter this, making vitamins ânot just stable in products and on the shelf, but through the stomach acid until it gets to where it needs to be absorbedâ, he said.
Asia-Pacific markets were a particular focus for Xampla, where âthereâs a lot more demand for these types of productsâ.
While Mitchell wouldnât go as far as saying Europe was the leader within this space, âthere is a lot of food tech development in Europe, where R&D continues to do really wellâ, he said.
âBut good tech, wherever it comes from, will find a home in industries across the world.â
