The Evolution of Functional Foods Market: A Revolution

Background: Consumers are changing their food preferences in favor of healthier foods that have a beneficial effect on health and that embrace sustainable consumption patterns. To meet the demand of modern con- sumers, the food sector is undergoing a major revolution as more and more new products are appearing on the market. This trend has encouraged the food industry to develop a new category of food products, which is 'functional foods', characterized by the presence of one or more bioactive compounds having beneficial effects on the body. To distinguish such products and highlight their beneficial effect, claims are made on the product packaging about nutritional indication and about potential disease risk reduction. Such claims increase con- sumers’ awareness about the benefit of these products hence can influence the consumer's purchasing deci- sions. Functional foods offer an important strategy to combat nutritional deficiency and diet-related diseases. Technological advances in the food industry also have the potential to improve and increase productivity, reduce food waste by facilitating the recovery of bioactive compounds from agri-food wastes and by-products. Objective: This paper aims to analyze the global functional food market in the time frame of 2019 to 2022, referring to the "Health and wellness" category. Methods: An overview of the global functional food market’s size is provided in the paper and Euromonitor database is the source of reference . Results: The results show a growing worldwide trend. However, within the European continent, differences among the main European countries emerged and are analyzed. Conclusion: The Health and Wellness food market segment has a market share of about 368 thousand tons, to which functional foods contribute a share of 97 thousand tons, split evenly between Asia (34 %), Europe (33 %) and America (31 %).