- Demand increased after the outbreak of COVID-19.
- 2020 Lunar New Year sales volume increased by 128% year on year.
- Health food supplements related to complex nutritions are on the increase.
Prospects for the development of China’s health food industry.
According to the report ‘Prospects for development of China’s health food industry, The market size of the health food in China rose from 160 billion yuan (about KRW 28 trillion , USD24.7 billion) in 2009 to 3965 billion yuan (about KRW28 trillion, USD 61.1 billion ) in 2019 recording an annual average growth rate of 9.5% year to year. This year the market size is expected to exceed 200 billion yuan ( about KRW 5 trillion, USD 61.7 billion)
Data : EUROMONITOR, Research for Industrial Economics and Trade (前瞻产业研究) (unit: yuan)
The demand for healthy food has been increased after the outbreak of COVID-19. According to the data announced by Suning, 2020 Lunar New Year sales volume increased by 128% year on year.
The current market situation of China health food
In China, health food is a concept that exists between general food and medicine.
According to The Health Food Registration and Security Management method, Health food is defined as food that has a health function or for the purpose of supplementing vitamins and minerals. And also, It has a function to regulate organisms but not intended to treat disease and does not inflict acute, subacute, or chronic harm to the body.
Until 2018, There were very frequent cases of deceitful consumers through sales of general foods as ‘health foods’ in China, therefore, The Chinese government launched a campaign called “100-days action in early 2019. It has developed and improved a major market.
Certification of health food “Blue hat”
Based on the penetration rate of health food for each age group, the 55-64 year-old section has the highest at 29% and 35-44-year-old section has the lowest at 11%. The overall average penetration rate of China is less than 20%. Compared to the US which is 54%, the China penetration rate of health food is significantly lower. Therefore, considering the market size and potential growth, the health food industry in China has the possibility of development.
Major Importers of Health Food in China.
China’s health food imports grew from USD 610 million in 2010 to USD3.4 billion in 2019. The annual average of growth is 21%. The main sources of income are Australia, The United States, Indonesia, Thailand and Germany which account for 61.9% of the total market.
Reference : KOTRA
In recent years, The number of complex nutrients health foods are increasing rather than single nutrients.
