Plant extracts will usher in a bright moment

According to Innova's data, between 2014 and 2018, the global growth rate of food and beverages using plant ingredients reached 8%. Latin America is the main growth market for this segment, with a compound annual growth rate of 24% during this period, followed by Australia and Asia with 10% and 9% respectively. In the market category, sauces and condiments accounted for the most market share. In 2018, this field accounted for 20% of the global plant ingredient application new product market share, followed by ready-to-eat foods and side dishes 14%, snacks 11%, meat products and 9% of eggs and 9% of baked goods.

my country is rich in plant resources, of which more than 300 types can be used for plant extracts. As the world's major exporter of plant extracts, my country's plant extract exports have continued to rise in recent years, setting a record high of US$2.368 billion in 2018, a year-on-year increase of 17.79%. According to customs statistics, in 2019, my country's export volume of traditional Chinese medicine products was 40.2, an increase of 2.8% year-on-year. Among them, the export volume of plant extracts, which accounted for the largest proportion, was 2.37 billion U.S. dollars in 2019. What about the future plant extract market?

my country's extract industry is an emerging industry. At the end of the 1980s, with the increasing demand for botanicals and natural health products in the international market, my country's professional extract companies began to appear. The "export boom" represented by the export of licorice, ephedra, ginkgo biloba, and Hypericum perforatum extracts Formed one after another. After 2000, many Chinese patent medicine companies, fine chemical companies, and chemical raw material drug manufacturers have also begun to set foot in the extract market. The participation of these companies has greatly promoted the development of my country’s extract industry, but it has also led to my country’s extract industry. Within a period of time, the "price melee" situation appeared.

There are 1074 Chinese companies exporting plant extract products, a slight increase compared with the number of export companies in the same period in 2013. Among them, private enterprises accounted for 50.4% of their exports, which is far ahead and contributes the most. "Three-capital" enterprises followed closely, accounting for 35.4%. my country's plant extract industry has been in development for less than 20 years. Private plant extract companies have mostly grown and developed without "care", and have continued to grow in response to the challenges of financial "tsunamis" again and again.

Under the influence of the new medical model, plant extracts with functionality or activity are favored. At present, the plant extract industry is developing faster and faster, surpassing the growth rate of the pharmaceutical market and becoming an independent emerging industry. With the rise of the plant extract market worldwide, China's plant extract industry will also become a new strategic pillar industry for the development of the national economy and society.

Plant extracts are the main force in the export of Chinese medicine products, and the export value accounts for more than 40% of the total export value of Chinese medicine products. Although the plant extract industry is a new industry, it has developed rapidly in the past two decades. Statistics show that in 2011, my country’s export of plant extracts reached US$1.13 billion, an increase of 47% year-on-year, and the compound growth rate from 2002 to 2011 reached 21.91%. Plant extracts became the first commodity category for Chinese medicine exports exceeding US$1 billion.

According to MarketsandMarkets analysis, the plant extract market is estimated to be worth US$23.7 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach US$59.4 billion by 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 16.5% from 2019 to 2025. The plant extraction industry is characterized by many categories, and the market size of each single product will not be particularly large. The market size of relatively large single products such as capsanthin, lycopene, and stevia is about 1 to 2 billion yuan. CBD, which has a relatively high degree of market attention, has a market size of 100 billion yuan, but it is still in its infancy.