Slow innovation stunts EU market for grape seed extract

By Lorraine Heller

- Last updated on GMT

The European market for grape seed extracts is still lagging behind its American counterpart, due to a lack of innovation and marketing as well as an unclear regulatory environment, according to analysts.

Speaking to NutraIngredients.com, Frost & Sullivan said the US market for the extract is currently more than double the European market, with growth rates in the US also higher than in Europe.

The findings come from a report due to be published in coming months by the market researcher on immune and antihypertensive ingredients in Europe and the United States. Grape seed extract is one of the ingredients examined in the report, due to its benefits for hypertension.

Grape seed for anti-hypertension

According to Sneha Pasricha, senior research analyst at Frost & Sullivan, the US market for grape seed extract has taken off in the past couple of years “due to the successful implementation of research and marketing efforts made by certain US-based manufacturers, who were successful in positioning grape seed extract as an effective condition-specific health ingredient.”

In contrast, F&S’s research found that the European market has lagged behind. This is partly due to the current regulatory environment in Europe, where uncertainty surrounding the evaluation of health claims by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is thought to be hindering innovation.

“In the US, anti-hypertension is one of the main health positionings for grape seed extract,” ​said Pasricha, adding that this is “likely to pick up fast due to on-going research and aggressive scientific marketing efforts by some of the manufacturers in the US”.

“For Europe to see better growth, strong research and marketing initiatives are required from the side of manufacturers, as are being undertaken in the US. Robust clinical back-up will in turn aid in the process of getting health claim approvals for grape seed extract from EFSA.”

Benefits, applications, suppliers

Beyond hypertension, other health areas targeted by grape seed extract include general anti-oxidant support, as well as emerging health areas such as brain health, atherosclerosis, and type-2 diabetes in metabolic syndrome patients.

Key players in the market include but are not limited to Polyphenolics, Burgandy, Indena, Naturex and Bio Serae. A number of Chinese manufacturers are also “fairly active” ​in the US grape seed market, said Pasricha, which creates a “highly competitive environment”.

The primary application for grape seed extract both the in European and US market is dietary supplements.

Frost & Sullivan’s report for the US market will be published at the end of next month, whereas the European report will be published several months after that, said the analyst.

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