Thanks to MFDS's individual recognition of ingredients, the domestic health supplement market is booming

"Expertise in Health Functional Foods Key to Securing Exclusive Rights for Individually Recognized Ingredient Development"
Annual Production Exceeds 30 Billion Won for Top 5 Ingredients Including Complexes Like Hwanggi Extract

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] As the popularity of individually recognized products, which have been certified for functionality by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, rises, they are rapidly emerging as key ingredients driving the growth of the health functional food market.

Individually recognized raw materials refer to ingredients that manufacturers have researched and developed, submitting research data on functionality, standards, and specifications to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, which then individually acknowledges their functionality and safety.

According to the "2020 Food Industry Production Performance" announced by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on the 24th, the production scale of health functional food manufacturing reached 2.2642 trillion KRW, a 16.3% increase from 1.9464 trillion KRW the previous year. This is analyzed as a result of growing public interest in health and the popularization of health functional food consumption. Red ginseng held the highest market share at 26.4% (598.8 billion KRW). Individually recognized raw materials increased by about 28.9% compared to the previous year, recording 479.6 billion KRW, drawing attention as new functional materials in the health functional food market.

Among individually recognized raw materials, the top five items with sales exceeding 30 billion KRW based on last year's production performance are ▲ Hemohim Angelica gigas mixed extract (immune improvement) ▲ Hovenia dulcis pedunculata extract powder (liver health) ▲ Lactulose powder (intestinal health) ▲ Astragalus extract complex (children's growth) ▲ Lutein-zeaxanthin complex extract 20% (eye health).

Hemohim Angelica gigas mixed extract, which accounted for 18.3% of all individually recognized items, recorded sales of 119.5 billion KRW, a 29% increase from the previous year. It was recognized as an individually acknowledged raw material in 2006 with the claim that it "may help improve immune function." As word of its immune functionality spread, about half of its production volume is exported.

Hovenia dulcis pedunculata extract powder, a functional raw material that "may help protect the liver from alcohol-induced damage," ranked second with sales of 82 billion KRW. Lactulose powder, which has functionality related to "promoting beneficial bacteria growth and inhibiting harmful bacteria," followed with sales of 49.3 billion KRW.

The children's growth product line using Astragalus extract complex (HT042), which "may help children's height growth," is attracting attention in the children's health functional food market. Last year, the sales of products from sellers increased by 25.6% from the previous year, reaching 46.1 billion KRW and ranking fourth.

The health functional food market targeting children and adolescents exceeded approximately 500 billion KRW last year. The Astragalus extract complex rapidly grew this year as consumers seeking natural ingredients with no burden for daily intake shared word-of-mouth about its effectiveness in children's height growth.

The product sales of Lutein-zeaxanthin complex extract 20%, which "may help maintain macular pigment density that can decrease due to aging and support eye health," reached 31.9 billion KRW, placing it among the top five individually recognized product sales.

This year, the domestic health functional food market is expected to exceed 5 trillion KRW. Along with the continuous growth of existing bio and health sector companies, food, beauty, and pharmaceutical companies are entering the market one after another, making it increasingly competitive, requiring both "expertise" and "technological capability."

An industry insider said, "What is considered the expertise of health functional food companies is whether they secure exclusive rights to individually recognized raw materials," adding, "Individually recognized raw materials require significant time and funds from raw material discovery to human application trials and scientific experiments for verification, and through continuous investment, new markets can be created in the health functional food sector."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.