The Food Additives Market

Abstract

• Provides an overview of the changing U.S. food industry and its climate, including major factors that affect the markets for food and food additives
• Contains U.S. market forecasts for food additives through 2014
• Highlights major classes of food additives and technically describes the most important individual products that compete for places in the market
• Considers food additives both by type of product (e.g., acidulants) and by food product application groupings (e.g., bakery goods)
• Discusses current and new developments in food additive research and development, and reviews important new technology areas
• Looks at important factors in the marketing of food additives, including distribution channels, impact of large food processors and end-user criteria

STUDY GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

• An overview of the changing U.S. food industry and its business climate, including data and discussion of the American diet and food distribution systems and some major factors that affect markets for food and food additives.
• Definition and delineation of the food additives field by classifying these additives into workable categories, and technically describing these major categories and the most important individual products that compete for places in the market
• Market analyses and forecasts for U.S. food additive market values, in constant 2009 dollars for our base year of 2009 and a 5-year forecast to 2014; in these market analyses, dollar markets and growth rates are segmented for food additives both by type of additive product (e.g., acidulants) and by food product application groupings (e.g., bakery goods)
• Discussion of current and new developments in food additive research and development, and reviews of important new technology areas
• Discussion of important factors in the marketing of food additives, including distribution channels, impact of large food processors, and end-user selection criteria
• Trends and factors that will have the greatest effect on future food additives markets
• Elaboration of the competitive atmosphere among food additive suppliers, both basic producers and formulators/distributors, including their relationships with end-user food processor companies
• Discussion of environmental and regulatory considerations affecting food additives and their impact on products and markets
• Identification and profiles of many of the most important food additives suppliers, their products, and their strengths and weaknesses.

SCOPE OF REPORT

Depending on who is doing the categorization, there can be a large number of food additive categories, and no report can attempt to cover them all, especially low-volume exotic additives with small markets. In this study, the focus is on the most important classes of food additives, both the older and mature products, such as acidulants and colorants, as well as several newer, exciting products. This latter group, in recent years, has encompassed the large “calorie-reduction (CR) agent” segment, which includes fat replacers and nonnutritive sweeteners.

The scope of this study is limited to those chemical products and materials specifically considered food additives.

• Direct food additives, which means those intentionally added to food, as opposed to chemicals that, for example, can migrate into food from packaging materials; the latter are called indirect food additives and are outside the scope of the report.
• Nonnutritive food additives, as opposed to food ingredients. The simplest way to differentiate food additives from food ingredients is that additives tend to improve the food but do not add nutritional value. Thus, we exclude caloric sweeteners such as sugar and high-fructose syrups, mineral and vitamin supplements, caloric flavorings like butter and chocolate (usually added in larger than trace amounts), and other food ingredients.

This study covers food additive markets in the United States, and all forecasts are for U.S. sales. Some international aspects of this large and diverse market are also mentioned, when appropriate. For example, some important food additives are imported, especially exotic, plant-derived products from specific locations throughout the world. These are noted and included where appropriate; some of them are quite important. Because food additives are, for the most part, high value-added, specialty chemicals, often produced to an end user' s specifications, volumes in pounds are less meaningful than market values in dollars. For this reason, all our market estimates and forecasts are in constant 2009 U.S. dollars.

Because of the inherent imprecision in market forecasts for dynamic and proprietary markets such as food additives, all values are rounded to the nearest million dollars. Due to this rounding, some forecast values might not exactly agree with the percentage compounded annual growth rates (CAGRs) that accompany the dollar forecasts. This discrepancy will be most apparent in small markets where 5-year growth, when rounded to the nearest million dollars, does not appear to fit the projected CAGR.

This report is segmented into sections, of which this is the first.

The second section is a summary that encapsulates study findings and conclusions, and includes summary major market tables. It is the place where a busy executive can find the major findings of this study in summary format.

The third section is an overview of the food and food additives industries and their products. It starts with a general discussion of food markets, diet, and distribution in the United States. The study then defines and classifies food additives, introduces readers to suppliers of these materials, and ends with a discussion of some factors that influence food additives markets. ope of Report (Continued)

The fourth section is the first of the market analysis sections, this one devoted to market analysis by type and/or materials used. The food additives segment is broken into seven major categories: acidulants, calorie-reduction agents, colorants/adjuvants, flavors/flavor enhancers, formulation aids, preservatives, and processing aids/others. The last group listed includes food additive enzymes, gelling agents, humectants, and several other types of additives that do not fit into other categories.

The next section looks at food additive markets by major applications and end uses in a number of markets. These include bakery goods, beverages, confectionery, dairy products, meats/seafood, snack foods and some others. It concludes with two major matrices that array the materials and markets for the years 2009 and 2014.

The next is devoted to technology, with sections covering some important current and new technologies, competitive processes and products, and the state of research and development in the food processing and food additives industries.

The following section looks at structure, competitive factors, and trends in the U.S. food additives industry, along with a broad sweep of global business and markets. Suppliers and distributors of raw materials and food additives are analyzed. The section ends with a discussion of the marketing of food additives and some international aspects.

The next section is devoted to a discussion of environmental, legislative, and regulatory factors affecting the food additives industry. These include federal laws and the regulatory process, state and local regulations, and packaging/disposal of food additives; also included is a comprehensive status report on the Nutritional Labeling and Education Act of 1990 (NLEA). The report ends with a discussion of public perceptions and policies relating to what go into food.

The last narrative section is devoted to profiles of more than 90 of the leading supplier companies in the industry.

The report ends with an appendix containing a glossary of some important terms, abbreviations, acronyms, etc., used in the food and food additives industry and related technologies.

Some topics and materials covered in the text of this report are not included in the market forecast tables. These topics and materials are included for completeness and to give the reader a full picture, for example, of new product research and development. However, they are either outside the scope of this study (such as discussion of many international activities) or may be too new to have yet developed into a measurable commercial market.

In addition, this study is devoted to food additives used in commercial processed food products; products that are also sold in stores for family use are outside our scope. This differentiation is probably most easily noted in sales of noncaloric (high-intensity) sweeteners, which are made and sold into both markets, both in bulk for food and beverage processors and in smaller packages for tabletop use in the home. An attempt was made to differentiate these usages, but it is often difficult to separate them when a producer sells the bulk product into different market segments. Thus, some of our market estimates may be lower than those of other analysts who include all uses.

Many or most of the food additives covered in this report are chemical compounds or entities. Some of them have complicated chemical names, and often, more simple generic names or acronyms, such as BHT for butylated hydroxytoluene. Many of these are listed and defined in the glossary. Product trade or brand names usually are given in uppercase letters, signifying a proprietary, often copyrighted trade name. On the other hand, generic names are given in lower case. Many chemical names often are abbreviated and shown as acronyms, such as BHT.

INFORMATION SOURCES

Extensive searches were made of the literature and the Internet, including many leading trade publications, as well as technical compendia, government publications, and information from trade and other associations. Much product and market information was obtained from principals involved in the industry. Information for our company profiles was primarily obtained from the companies themselves, especially the larger, publicly owned firms. Other sources included directories and articles.