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Natural & Nutrition Products Market in
Japan
- Japan ranks the world’s top three consumer market for organic and natural products.
- The nation’s health foods market (composed of supplements, functional foods, vitamins, FOSHU) is worth US$10 billion and is growing at 10% annually, but it represents only 1% of Japan’s total food expenditures valued at US$1 trillion.
- In 2005 supplements were up 4% year-on-year. Today, dietary supplement sales in Japan are estimated at around 1,035 billion yen (US$8.6 billion). Red hot supplements include: Vitamin C, Calcium, Vitamin E, Royal Jelly, Protein, Fibrous Food, Multivitamins, Chlorella, Aloe Vera.
- The MLM/Mail Order channel accounts for 70% of supplements sales in Japan, where 75,000 pharmacies always seek new supplements of international labels to rival with network marketers and discount mass market retailers.
- FOSHU (Foods for Specified Health Use) sales alone rose by 5% year-on-year and its market alone is worth 830 billion yen (US$6.9 billion). New items such as yogurt, Lactobacillus drinks, cooking oil and mayonnaise fueled the growth. Effective FOSHU for body fat and triglyceride reduction also command good sales.
- The best opportunity rests in “metabolic syndrome” which affects 19.6 million people in Japan. The presence of such population pulls imports of metabolic syndrome management products from the rest of the world, as such products are rare in Japan despite weight loss items for young women are plentiful. The effort of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare reduces the number of cases also creates much room for the growth in products for metabolic syndrome and weight loss.
- Among nutritional ingredients, strong growth items were collagen, GABA, astaxanthin whose sales were up 141%, 141% and 200% respectively in 2006, year-on-year. Food replacement shakes and botanical Lactobacillus items are hot too.
- Last December, L-Carnitine and other ingredients are shifted from the Drug List (excluded from the production of Health Foods according to the Medicine Act) to the Food List. L-Carnitine can now be used for supplements. More de-regulation for ingredients on Drug List will come.
- Hot ingredients for new products in Japan includes: Agaricus, Phellinus Linteus Aoshima, Blueberry, Bilberry, Lutein, Lactic acid bacteria, Bifidobacteria, Astaxanthin, L-Carnitine, Coenzyme Q-10, Maka, Alpha Lipoic Acid, Isoflavones
- Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries spent budget on building up the market for New Health Foods and New Ingredients with an objective to expand its market size by 3 times in 5 five years.
- The retail outlets of top five convenience store chains (selling functional drinks and natural foods) across Japan amount to 33,000. There are 3,000 specialty health food stores regarding organic products as an under-served niche market.
- Most Japanese consumers of organic and natural products base their decision on the efficacy, quality and price rather than the nationality of a product. Creativities and freshness of a product is also a key factor of consideration.
- Some US brands (such as NatureMade) and MLM brands (Amway) have become household names in Japan.
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