Probiotics, botanicals to drive APAC’s health and wellness packaged food in 2024

They were dubbed as rising super ingredients.

Probiotics and botanicals are set to drive growth in health and wellness packaged foods in Asia, with nearly 70% of probiotic culture ingredients in the Asia Pacific seen to be used in packaged food this year, according to data analytics company Euromonitor International. 

Meanwhile, around 40% of botanical ingredients are also expected to be used in packaged food. 

“Asia Pacific represents a bright spot for innovation opportunities in probiotics, given its maturity in packaged food applications compared to the rest of the world,” said Megumi Matsunaga, food and nutrition consultant at Euromonitor International.

“Probiotics and botanicals have been identified as rising super ingredients, and they are set to propel health and wellness packaged food in Asia,” she added.

Herbal and traditional ingredients, deeply rooted in Asian cultures, offer a growing market for innovative functional food products. The demand for these remedies in Asia-Pacific reached $35b in 2023.