European heart health market in ‘exceptional’ shape
A driving factor is consumers who are increasingly aware of heart-related problems and seeking to maintain their heart health via dietary and lifestyle choices rather than deal with the exorbitant costs of the health care system.
"The increased propensity among consumers to stay healthy, coupled with the know-how to realise it, has created a demand for functional foods, strongly propelling the European heart health ingredients market forward," said one of the report authors. "Research funds for newer ingredients too bode well for the market."
Challenges
This awareness has been driven by government and commercial education campaigns and assisted by the approval of some health claims in some countries, although European Union health claim regulations are yet to be resolved and this was acting as a curtailing force on market expansion.
“The primary challenge facing the heart health ingredients market continues to be the stringent regulatory scenario in Europe as compared to the US,” the report states.
With an ageing population seeing heart disease rates continuing to soar, there is “immense potential for growth”, the report, which looks back to 2004 and forward to 2014, states. Over-60s are expected to increase from 20 to 25 per cent of the European population by 2020.
“The heart health ingredients market is poised to provide exceptional growth in the forecast period as compared to the generally commoditised food industry,” Frost wrote.
“Manufacturers can make merry in such a growth story as long as they retain their competitive edge by utilising astute combination of research, product development and marketing strategies.”
According to the European Heart Network cardiovascular disease (CVD) cost €192 billion in health care costs across the 27-member state EU in 2007.
While CVD can be sub-classified into categories such as hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, heart attack and stroke, the Frost research focuses on cholesterol reduction because functional ingredient solutions are most advanced in this area.
The big four
Frost points out that in Europe four ingredients dominate the cholesterol-reduction scene: phytosterols; omega-3s; beta-glucan and soy protein.
Other scientifically backed options included fibre, antioxidants, green tea, CoEnzymeQ10, folic acid, B12 and selenium, but the big four had achieved greater popularity because of their “gold standard” scientific grounding.
Phytosterols were the most heart health targeted and benefited from approved health claims in many markets (as well as recently approval from the European Food Safety Authority).
The other ingredients combine CVD marketing with issues such as weight management, cancer, menopause, osteoporosis, cognitive and bone health, infant nutrition and immunity.
Big food companies such as Unilever with its cholesterol-lowering Flora pro.activ range had achieved mainstream product awareness via ongoing marketing campaigns and event sponsorship such as a long-term tie-in with the London marathon. Its major rival in the area - Benecol - had also done a lot of marketing work to boost sales and awareness levels.
Frost said marketing strategies that emphasised ‘natural’, tie-ins with heart health associations and prominent logos that demonstrated heart health benefits on foods would increase the chances of foods being successful and further expanding the reach of the overall category.
In Europe, five million people suffer heart failure with about 860,000 new cases each year.
