SINGAPORE: Vitafoods Asia 2018 was a resounding success, bringing together the nutraceuticals industry from all parts of the globe to build valuable business connections. The exhibition grew by over 40% this year, and 2019 looks to expand further as 70% of the booths for the 2019 edition pre-sold at the show, with many of those exhibitors upsizing their stand space.
This year’s edition of Vitafoods Asia underscored the latest trends and innovations in the nutraceuticals industry and showcased how the region is embracing adoption of true, science-based innovation in functional foods and drinks. Both the trade show and the conference brought about greater understanding of current consumer trends at the regional and local level.
“We are thrilled with this year’s results, Vitafoods Asia has experienced robust growth in Singapore. Attendance was up 12% year-on-year, the number of international exhibitors grew to 350 from 41 countries. Feedback around the quality of discussions was higher than ever from both attendees and suppliers” said Chris Lee, Managing Director, Global Health & Nutrition Network Europe, Informa Exhibitions.
“We feel privileged to be part of this thriving industry and provide knowledge and platform supporting its growth. A diverse range of 5,680 business professionals attended Vitafoods Asia this year, coming from 56 countries. We were particularly encouraged by the regional attendance – an increasing number of attendees came from Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, South Korea, Thailand and Japan – representing manufacturers and distributors that were looking for global suppliers.”
Singapore has proved a particularly successful host city as it is a hub for food research, with most of the world’s leading food companies undertaking nutraceutical research here. Innovation centres here leverage the country’s superior research capabilities and infrastructure to understand the metabolic differences of Asians to foods eaten in Asia, and to develop foods that promote health and wellbeing. Vitafoods Asia helps the nutraceuticals industry make the right connections to do business in the region.
Asia is the fastest growing region for Nutraceuticals
Vitafoods Asia is a sourcing, learning and networking platform that seeks to drive nutraceutical innovation and to inspire creative solutions to challenges faced by the industry’s professionals, which was underscored by the metric this year that multiple team members attended from the same company than had in previous years. This was also evidenced by the number of distributors who brought key leaders and decision makers to the show, leveraging Vitafoods Asia as a meeting place to arrange multiple meetings.
One of the world’s largest ingredient manufacturers, Kerry Group, exhibited at Vitafoods Asia for the first time this year. At their stand, Erin Miller said, “This is our first time and it’s been great. There’s been a great amount of traffic and a great amount of interest in our products.”
Speakers at the Vitafoods Asia Conference discussed current and growing industry trends, provided research and regulatory insights, and advice on how participants could market to consumers. The Conference particularly hit the spot for those interested in meaningful conversations and takeaways, with sessions covering Personalised Nutrition and Digestive Health and Marketing proving popular.
Avinash Aswani, a Business Development Specialist for the Tolaram Group (LVL SG), said: “I am looking to source some products for product development and to get a feel of what the trends are like in the market right now. I have found a decent amount of market Information, and I’ve seen a couple of research companies here as well.”
Key takeaways from Vitafoods Asia 2018
Consumers are highly evolved
Today’s consumer is “very, very evolved consumer”, as Jeff Hilton, Partner & Co-Founder of BrandHive, put it during his Conference session on ‘How to successfully market your science to a consumer audience’. They want the health benefits of nutraceuticals in their daily consumed food, without having to change the way they behave and interact with their food.
Palatable fortification of everyday foods
Advancements with taste masking and new technologies have helped overcome the taste challenges that have been prohibitive in the past, lending manufacturers the ability to create more palatable functional foods. At Vitafoods Asia 2018 there was a rise in the prevalence of nutraceutical ingredients in everyday foods, for example, baked goods such as protein fortified muffins. Nutribio’s Triple Layer Vanilla & Brownie bar won the Vitafoods Asia 2018 Tasting Centre award for ‘Best tasting functional food’ and AstaReal’s SootheMe won the Tasting Centre award for ‘Best tasting functional drink’.
If it’s a gummy, we’ll eat it
How we consume nutraceuticals also extends to the packaging of supplements. Supplements now come in many forms: tablets, gummies and gels for example. At Vitafoods Asia this year, there were multiple packaging manufacturers that had made their mark in the pharmaceutical industry for example, that are now embracing the nutraceuticals industry. A case in point was exhibitor Yaya, who provided vegetarian jelly beans that were loaded with multivitamins, zinc and iodine, raspberry in flavour, to delight every visitor with a burst of candy-flavoured goodness as they arrived at the show.
In Asia, there’s an overriding consumer preference for gummies. For example, the number one way to help pre-natal and postpartum mothers ingest their supplements, we learned, is with gummies.
The rise and rise of botanical beverages
Another thing that was outstanding about Vitafoods Asia this year were the several exhibitors showcasing contract manufacturing for botanical vegetable and fruit drinks. Lapovo from Japan and HealthyLink, from Croatia for example, sought to find distributors in the region for their products, which are made from real fruit and vegetables. A representative at the Lapovo stand commented, “Definitely we have a seen a lot of users and also many traders here for our products. I think it’s a great show. I think everything is perfectly set up.”
Beauty from within
Starting from the premise that beauty comes from within, supplements that have been developed with proven, science-based research and that have been subject to clinical trials are addressing all kinds of beauty matters, from obesity, through inhibiting lipids, to cosmetics which are fortified with ingredients to improve and protect our skin.
Exhibitors included HIQ, in the Taiwan pavilion, were showcasing ingredients such as fucoidan, which has proven efficacy as a raw material to boost the immune system and manage weight. In the new products pavilion, there was Emu Tracks, who sell emu oil for its sunscreen and moisturizing properties, along with healing properties for small abrasions.
Introducing tech into personalised nutrition
As the world of personalised nutrition grows, along with it is coming the introduction of technology. One trend that was evident at Vitafoods Asia, is how manufacturers are developing apps to help make nutrition personal, as well as develop a point of interaction with consumers, which informs them what the consumer wants, what they need, what are the ongoing effects of their products on the consumer, and what the consumer feels taking the product.
“We are combining supplementation, branded ingredients that we develop based on the clinical studies to show their effectiveness, along with digital technology, so that you can allow the consumer to track their consumption, and the results while they are taking the product. For example, for people that want to lose weight, we’ve developed the Metabolaid App,” said Jonathan Jones, Product Development, Scientific Advisor for the Digitalisation of Health Ingredients at Monteloeder.
Vitafoods Asia returns for its ninth edition from 25 – 26 September 2019 at the Sands Expo & Convention Centre at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.
For more information. please visit www.vitafoodsasia.com
Vitafoods Asia
Vitafoods Asia is part of Informa Exhibitions’ Global Health & Nutrition Network (GHNN), which brings together a portfolio of events, digital media and publishing for marketers, manufacturers and formulators of nutrition and dietary supplements, healthy foods/beverages and personal care products. GHNN’s events include Vitafoods Europe, Vitafoods Asia, SupplySide West and SupplySide East.
Natural Products INSIDER is the global media brand covering healthy ingredients and finished applications. Vitafoods Insights offers online content and a series of topic-specific digital magazines that bring highlights of the Vitafoods events to a global audience. SupplySide West & Vitafoods Global Storefronts offers a new online environment where ingredient buyers and product developers can find and connect with the suppliers and solutions they need, all year long.
For more information, visit www.informaglobalhealth.com.
Informa’s Global Exhibitions Division organises transaction-oriented exhibitions and trade shows, which provide buyers and sellers across different industries and communities with a powerful platform to meet face-to-face, build relationships and conduct business. Informa has a portfolio of more than 150 exhibitions, serving a number of core verticals, including Health & Nutrition, Beauty, Property & Construction and Pop Culture.
