According to a new study, sales of food flavour enhancer are expected to reach ~US$ 7.4 Bn in 2019, and with rising consumer demand for processed food products, the demand for food flavour enhancers will further grow in the coming years. Consumers are voicing the need for taste to complement nutrients, and food manufacturers are hunting ingredients that can maintain their production costs under a limit. Eventually, this is expected to bode well for manufacturers in the food flavour enhancers, and the market is expected to grow at a CAGR of ~7% between 2019 and 2029, opines study.
The study finds that the availability of food flavour enhancers that assure the reduction of salt in these products is increasing, and the rise in demand is mainly attributed to their adoption as a cost-effective alternative for conventional food flavour enhancing ingredients.
Even though clean-label food flavour enhancers are priced more, but a mere sprinkle will bring the required results. The cost of commodities such as salt and sugar is cut out when a food flavour enhancer is added to a food product. Thus, food flavour enhancers are being adopted extensively by stakeholders in the food industry, especially foodservice operators.
Also, many government regulations have been formulated to reduce the amount of salt in food products due to its adverse effects on the health of humans that consume this in excess, thus driving the food flavour enhancer market. South Africa implemented a legislation in 2013, making salt reduction mandatory, with initial reductions coming into force in 2016, and further reductions enforced in 2018. This, in turn, will bolster sales of food flavour enhancers in the coming years.
Increased Consumption of Processed Food Driving Food Flavour Enhancer Market
Changing lifestyles and increasing disposable incomes have led to changing consumer preferences, resulting in an increase in the consumption of processed food products. The increasing consumption of these food products has resulted in the growing use of food flavour enhancers. Food processing companies are expanding their production areas to cater the demand from consumers. This has, in turn, increased the demand for food flavour enhancers from food processing industries.
Consumer demands such as taste along with economic prices have also increased the demand for these food flavour enhancers, not only in the food processing industry but also in the foodservice industry. For example, the increased consumption of packaged foods and beverages is driving the growth of the food flavour enhancer market in China. Consumption of monosodium glutamate (MSG), which is the most popular type of food flavour enhancer, is the highest in China on a global scale, with 55% of MSG being consumed in the country.
However, health concerns among consumers around the world backtracked the food flavour enhancer market for a short while. Nevertheless, an increase in the alternatives for synthetic food flavour enhancers to cater the demand for clean-label products from consumers resulted in food flavour enhancers gaining acceptance, globally.
‘MSG Symptom Complex’ Affecting the Worldwide Popularity
The sales of food flavour enhancers were affected few years back, especially in developed regions such as North America and Europe, due to a condition called the MSG symptom complex, which was previously referred as Chinese Restaurant-Syndrome. This was due to few incidents with people in the U.S. that consumed food in Chinese restaurants suffering from symptoms such as rashes, itchiness, flushing, etc.
This resulted in a backlash regarding food flavour enhancers, especially, the one that is most commonly used in these restaurants, which is monosodium glutamate. Even if it was proven otherwise by government testing laboratories, food flavour enhancers gained negative publicity. Therefore, manufacturers of food flavour enhancers have come up with a range of clean-label products that can be used in food products and termed as ‘organic compliant’.
This study offers insights into the food flavour enhancer market for the forecast period between 2019 and 2029. The food flavour enhancer market is projected to record a CAGR of ~7% during the forecast period.
These insights are based on a report on Food Flavour Enhancer Market by Future Market Insights
