Vitafoods Asia seen as a big step forward to show Thailand’s credentials as nutraceuticals hub

The goal is to demonstrate Thailand's readiness to be a world hub for dietary supplements and nutraceuticals ingredients, Rungphech Chitanuwat, Asean regional portfolio director at Informa Markets Thailand, told a press conference on Wednesday.

She described "Vitafoods Asia 2023" as the region's leading event for functional ingredients and dietary supplement products and solutions. The event is expected to serve as a great opportunity for Thai entrepreneurs, as the dietary supplement industry has grown significantly in recent years.

Health-conscious trend
She pointed out that the growth was being driven by a global health-conscious trend, as consumers are paying more attention to their health and well-being.

While choosing more nutritious foods, health-conscious consumers also look for dietary supplements to maintain good health and treat illnesses, she explained.

According to the Healthy Marketing Team, the market will grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 6%. In 2026, the market is estimated to be worth US$2.29 billion.

"Such growth is driven by the global health-consciousness trend as well as the industry's adopted technologies and innovations. New product development around the world would make the market even more vibrant, attracting both existing and new investors to this industry," Rungpech said.

Vitafoods Asia 2023 was being held in Thailand as Asia's leading event for functional ingredients and dietary supplement products and solutions, she added.

She believes that in the current scenario there is plenty of room for local Thai herbs to play a significant role in the market, and Vitafoods Asia will serve as a springboard platform for Thai herbs to demonstrate their potential.

She said that Vitafoods Asia 2023 aimed to break down barriers in terms of product quality and producer and solution provider dependability.

"A variety of activities and special zones are designed to increase visitors' business opportunities. The event will bring together like-minded health and nutrition professionals to source suppliers, ingredients, dietary supplements, subcontractors, and innovative service providers," she said.

Research-driven growth

Uracha Ruktanonchai, executive vice president of the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), agreed with Rungpech's goal.

"The NSTDA has promoted science-based research on food, dietary supplements, herbs, and functional ingredients. Technologies and innovations are elevating the value chain for those products and improving the Thai food and health product industry," she said.

Meanwhile, the NSTDA has advocated the use of natural ingredients such as probiotics, prebiotics, postbiotics, starter culture, food enzyme, peptides, herbal extracts, and microbes as key ingredients in product development.

"These products have been rigorously tested to demonstrate their efficiency and safety of the ingredients, as well as their potential to assist local producers in lowering production costs and reducing raw material and technology imports,” Uracha said.

"In the future, research and development would help boost food producer capability and significantly drive industrial growth," she said.

A huge market
Nakan Tawichawat, director of Dietary Supplement Industry Club, the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), said that Thailand's food supplements and herbs are a huge market with high opportunity and high income.

At the moment, this market value is 30% greater than that of beauty products and cosmetics. This segment has high growth potential in 2024, he said.

The ageing society and the return of people to normal lifestyles after the pandemic are important factors in boosting the health trend. As a result, demand for dietary supplements has skyrocketed.

He cautioned that competition would heat up, and marketers would need to keep an eye on the situation at all times. It is likely that new business operators will enter the market.

He suggested that the government strongly support improving Thailand's agriculture farmers so that they could cultivate high-quality herbs in addition to field crops.

Need for know-how
Meatha Simavara, FTI chairman of Herbal Industry Club, added that Thailand had been a major producer of high-quality and diverse herbal and natural ingredients. However, the development of value-added products had been hampered by a lack of knowledge, technologies, and innovation.

"If this issue were to be addressed properly, the Thai herbal industry would have greater potential. The country needed to highlight different properties of each type of herb by using advanced technologies in research and development of dietary supplement products," he said.

He believed that the event would increase the opportunity for Thai herbal extracts in the international market, boosting the country's herbal and food products industry in the future.

According to Informa Markets, Vitafoods Asia 2023 is the only exhibition that offers insights and a wide range of dietary supplements, technologies, and innovations from suppliers all over the world.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to learn more about specific products and innovations, such as probiotics in the “Probiotics Resource Centre”, Omega-3 in the “Omega-3 Resource Centre”, and innovative extracts and dietary supplements in the "New Products & Ingredients Zone”, during the three-day event from September 20-22.

Meanwhile, leading dietary supplements and functional ingredients from Belgium, China, Japan, South Korea, Poland, Spain, Taiwan, and the United States will be on display at the international pavilion.

The exhibition is expected to welcome over 460 suppliers from 40 countries and connect over 8,000 visitors from around the world, assisting them in expanding their business and opportunities, stimulating new investments, and developing value-added products.