Abstract
INTRODUCTION
Beta-carotene is still the most prominent carotenoid used in foods and
supplements, but due to a changing consumer perception, primarily in Europe,
the product is suffering from natural replacements, specifically carrot juice,
and market growth in the past few years was much lower than expected. In
parallel, the number of producers of synthetic and algae derived beta-carotene
rose sharply, which added to the imbalance of supply and demand, driving
prices down.
Lycopene, an antioxidant recommended to prevent prostate cancer and
traditionally supplied as an extract from tomato, saw unprecedented price
decreases, mainly because of a number of new producers, an only moderately
growing market in North America, and the inability to sell synthetic lycopene
in Europe, due to lack of EU permission. However, fermentation derived
material is now available and registered in North America and in Europe.
The lutein market was booming until 2004, but started, like lycopene, to
suffer from a number of new market entries. Lutein for feed and for
supplements is offered at prices lower than ever before.
Canthaxanthin is still the color of choice for introducing a red tone in egg
yolks and to provide a cost competitive red background color in fish and
shrimp. The number of canthaxanthin producers is extremely high as never, but
application segments have only expanded moderately. Massive price erosions
were the consequence and some manufacturers started to promote its use in the
supplement sector to escape the decreasing profitability of the product in
feed.
Astaxanthin, the color of choice for pigmenting fish and shrimp, expanded its
market, but also suffered (as most other carotenoids) from an increasing
number of suppliers and subsequent price erosion. Most astaxanthin is still
produced by chemical synthesis. The fermentation product from Tate & Lyle is
no longer on the market but algae products are making an increasing inroad
into the astaxanthin market, not so much for fish coloring but for enriching
supplements with an antioxidant, the health effects of which are claimed to be
numerous.
Apo-carotenal and apo-ester are still on the market and despite the previous
assumption that they will phase out sooner or later, they enjoyed some market
growth in recent years, and even a new market entry took place.
Annatto, a carotenoid extract from a tree, has been on the market for a long
while. Revisiting and analyzing in detail the annatto market revealed that the
previous market data provided underestimated its importance and therefore the
product section is not only an update from previous ones but sheds a
completely new light on annatto.
SCOPE OF STUDY
This report contains:
- Descriptions of various carotenoids including astaxanthin, beta-carotene,
beta-apo-8-carotenol, beta-apo-8-carotenol-ester, canthaxanthin, lutein and
lycopene
- The current global market status of carotenoids, with trends and forecasts
for growth through 2015
- Technological issues, including the latest trends and a thorough patent
analysis
- Company profiles.
INFORMATION SOURCES
Public information on carotenoids is quite vast. Aside from company reports,
product brochures, and other published documents, it has been the direct
contact of the analyst with representatives of the relevant industry that
provides the reliable and quantitative information on carotenoids that ensures
the high quality of this report.
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