NUTRITION ASIA VIDEO SERIES

WATCH: Probiotics in China — ‘The market is set to explode’

10-Jul-2017 - Last updated on 28-Sep-2021 at 11:59 GMT

The probiotics sector is forecast to soar by 23% in China to 2020 and even greater long-term growth beckons if the industry unites to better educate consumers and regulators.

That’s the view of George Paraskevakos, executive director of the International Probiotics Association.

For our latest Nutrition Asia video series, we caught up with Paraskevakos in Shanghai to discuss the boom in probiotics in China.

Many suppliers and brands are reporting explosive growth, with insiders suggesting the market is already growing at around 20% year-on-year, compared to the 8% global rise.

DuPont, for example, posted a 50% increase in its China probiotics business in the past three years, while Paraskevakos highlighted official consumer research that pointed to 23% industry growth to 2020.

Communication drive

In the interview, we assess what is driving the growth, how consumers can be better educated about the benefits of probiotics and how brands can help the sector as a whole by increasing their communication efforts.

Paraskevakos also sets the growth in a regional context and explains why a concerted effort to engage regulators will result in success.

It is on the back of this growth across the region that we are bringing our Probiota summit to Asia for the first time in October. The world-leading summit will be held in Singapore from 11 to 13 October, and will feature a raft of international academics and industry experts.

Find out more here.