Nutraceuticals are products that range from dietary supplements, isolated nutrients and herbal products. Presently, China is the second largest consumer of Nutraceuticals. It is also the largest producer of Nutraceuticals in the world. South Korea and Australia have joined the race to be part of the growing trajectory in the Nutraceuticals market. Even though India holds only ten per cent of the global market share for Nutraceuticals, it has a definite edge over China dude to better research and quality compliance.

Industry experts note that, since the world has started backing off from buying food supplements and Nutraceuticals from China due to concerns regarding pollution and quality matters, India is gaining  significant advantage in the global market. Even though the actual annual growth rate of the industry is only around seven per cent,  it is growing at around twenty per cent annually in India. India therefore has a huge potential in the Nutraceuticals segment. Another factor that is adding to the edge of the industry in the country is the addition of thousands of plants that were identified recently in the country to have nutraceutical properties. These new additions hold major potential for the industry at large. A vast Majority of these plants still remain untapped.

On the other hand, ever since the quality standards of Nutraceuticals in the US and Europe have been increasing, China is losing its edge in the market because of pollution and contamination problems that the world at large have come to notice. Presently, China produces ten times the products as India does, but in terms of quality control, India is far ahead of the game. A major reason for the shift of trends is because of the increasing awareness of the side effects of drugs and contamination. This has been re-routing good opportunities in the Nutraceuticals space to India. The general mindset is that we could grow to be a powerful player in this space, if we invest more in research & development and ensure better quality control and accountability from source to shelf.

The current trend in growth of the nutraceutical industry varies widely across the world. The penetration is more in markets such as North America and Europe. These markets also enjoy the high degree of awareness of the consumers as compared to the other markets. The United States is undoubtedly the most active market for nutraceuticals in the entire world. The United Kingdom, Italy, Germany and France are the major markets in Europe.

India, with its treasure trove of plants that have high potential to be used for nutraceuticals  and with industry players with increasing research & development capabilities and higher standards of quality control has set the stage to become a key player in the global nutraceutical space. The future and prospects for Nutraceutical industry in our country seems very promising.