This according to contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) Sirio Pharma. The China-based firm has set its sights on growth opportunities in APAC and has identified gummies as a key opportunity.
In particular, the South East Asian markets of Indonesia and Thailand were highlighted as regions poised for higher sales, the company said, based on data from Euromonitor.
In Indonesia, the bulk of the demand for gummy nutraceuticals would come from kids nutrition while in Thailand, beauty-from-within would be the where the demand is coming from.
“Data from Euromonitor shows that both markets are the largest regionally and continue to grow.
“In Thailand, the key growth driver is the health and beauty category—particularly gummy formats—whereas in Indonesia, children’s gummies are the primary growth driver," said Alex Du, general manager for the APAC business unit at Sirio Pharma Co Ltd.
In Thailand’s beauty-from-within market, collagen-based products and biotin continue to dominate market demand, while probiotics has emerged as a fast-growing segment as well.
In Indonesia, aside from kids nutrition, the company has been seeing queries mainly related to multivitamins and products targeting brain and eye health. This includes fish oil, algal oil, and lutein products, Du said in response to queries from NutraIngredients-Asia.
With a strong growth potential, the company will be focusing more on these two markets. For instance, it is expecting to complete building a manufacturing site in Thailand in 2027.
“We saw nearly USD$40 million in sales from APAC excluding China during 2024, with Australia and Singapore proving very strong country markets for us, but I would expect in the next year to see higher sales in other rapid growth markets like Indonesia and, in particular, Thailand.
“So a lot of sales efforts will therefore be concentrated on helping customers launch differentiated products.”
Differentiated products are especially crucial in categories such as beauty-from-within, as the market is becoming saturated with me-too products.
In this case, Du said that the company recently launched a new type of gummy using collagen as the gelling agent instead of the commonly-used pectin or gelatin.
He said that this could offer a cleaner gummy with the lower use of additives and excipients, while allowing a higher dose of collagen actives at the same time.
Protein gummies opportunities
On the other hand, mature nutraceutical markets like Australia and Singapore could offer opportunities for novel innovations - such as protein, creatine and branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) gummies for sports nutrition.
The demand would be led by consumers seeking enjoyable nutraceutical formats.
“Looking in greater depth at some specific ingredients, high strength protein, creatine and BCAA gummies with dose loading above what previously possible will be a major growth trend for our customers.
“In the past, liquid form and powder delivery dominated this product class, but gummies are increasingly becoming a popular alternative as consumers seeks more enjoyable forms.
“In Australia for example, where the sports market is now rapidly expanding, muscle gain and performance gummies are potentially one of the biggest trends of the next few years,” said Du.
In Singapore, while traditional powder formats and ready-to-drink options remain popular in sports nutrition, the company believes that sports gummies will begin entering the market in the near future.
“These products offer clear advantages; they taste great and are convenient to take on the go at any time.”
Creating protein gummies however, is not without its specific challenges, especially considering the amount of protein that needs to be taken in order for consumers to enjoy its benefits.
“One of the main challenges is the amount of protein that can be included in each gummy to meet the minimum effective dose.
“In Australia, the suggested dosage is around three sports gummies per day, so the formulation must be able to deliver the required daily intake of ingredients like creatine, BCAAs, and protein within just a few gummies,” said Du.
Flavours wise, he believes gummies with a ‘sour note’ that are already popular in other advanced global markets could become a new trend in SEA markets.
“We believe brands in SE Asia and Australia will increasingly take inspiration from the other markets.
“And so, gummies with ‘sour note’ flavours – which are already popular in other advanced global markets – will be added to the traditional berry and fruit flavours that have dominated to date in Singapore, Thailand and Australia.”
Microeffervescent opportunities
Aside from gummies, Du also believes that formats such as microeffervescent would be well-received in Thailand and Australia.
According to him, these microeffervescent can be consumed without water and provides sizzling mouthfeel and could be applied to vitamins and probiotics products.
