Plenty of big, rich and established competitors in the global astaxanthin market - in case BEHL ever does manage to grow some haematococcus, build their extraction lab and get their product certified. Begs the question as why any reputable company would want to wait and make all that capital expense before launching their new product when they could just buy the stuff from any provider, domestic or overseas? Oh that's right - it's a little pinkie with no $$$$$. IMO
The carotenoid market will break the billion dollar barrier by 2009, carried by a rise in demand for natural colourings and their purported health properties.
But despite the boost, growth is not overwhelming, with a new report from BCC pitching the global market of all commercially used carotenoids to rise annually by 2.9 per cent for the next years, growing from $887 million (€722m) to $1 billion.
Widely used as food colourings, carotenoids are organic pigments naturally occurring in plants. Their colour, ranging from pale yellow, through bright orange, to deep red, is directly linked to their structure: the double carbon-carbon bonds interact with each other in a process called conjugation.
Most of the carotenoids on the market are currently produced by chemical synthesis and partly by extraction from plant material. Fermentation does not yet play a role, although this method is expected to play a more important role in the future.
But overall, the largest outlet will remain feed, mainly because of the outstanding importance of astaxanthin and canthaxanthin. Supplement use will increase, while food applications will remain relatively small, claims the report.
One of the most well-known carotenoids is the one that gives this group its name, carotene, found in carrots and responsible for their bright orange colour.
A natural colourant used in a range of foods from ice cream to cheese, carotene, also a provitamin, is one of the two subgroups of the carotenoids. The other sub-group is xanthophylls.
For many years, beta-carotene has been used as a food colouring, but growing knowledge about the health promoting antioxidative properties of carotenoids is pushing growth and applications for a range of these colourants, from lycopene to astaxanthin.
Market researchers BCC pitched the beta-carotene market at $242 million in 2004, a rise of $30 million on 1999, and representing over a quarter of the entire carotenoid market.
Food, is still the most important outlet, where it is widely used as a colouring. But the supplement segment is coming up close behind. European players DSM and BASF dominate the market , but increasing competition from Asia is putting the pressure on prices.
According to BCC, DSM and BASF will remain the market leaders over the next five years. DSM with a global market share of 54 per cent for all carotenoids will dominate in 2009.
Astaxanthin, a carotenoid used to pigment salmon and trout, grabs second position in the carotenoid market, with a value of $234 million in 2004. The market has grown by less than $20 million over the past five years, mainly because of substantial competition, says BCC.
Canthaxanthin, traditionally used to give a red shade to egg yolks, is becoming popular for use in fish pigmentation, and has taken some of the traditional astaxanthin market away. Upcoming fermentation routes will put astaxanthin under further price competition, with the market value in 2009 estimated at $257 million.
BCC claims the fish pigment market could offset a diminishing market value in the traditional segment. The report places overall market value at $148 million in 2004. For 2009 a slight recovery to the old level of $156 million is seen, mainly because of strong volume growth and only a moderate price decrease.
But hooked up with eye-health benefits, the latest 'darling' of the carotenoids is lutein. Until the end of the 1990s, lutein was mainly used to colour egg yolks and partly for broiler skin.
After 2000 a new application developed in supplements when it was demonstrated that lutein could help to reduce age-related macular degeneration disease.
This new market pushed lutein's market value up to $139 million in 2004, compared to just $64 million in 1999. Strong growth is anticipated to continue, which BCC pitches annually at 6.1 per cent until 2009.
Red carotenoid lycopene also saw substantial growth in past years on the back of health benefits, while annatto and apo-carotenal products did not grow much in terms of market value. Zeaxanthin, acting synergistically with lutein, did see some major market growth, although starting from a very low level.
Europe still dominates the market, and tipped to continue in the near future, followed by North America.
Florida-based Valensa International has signed licensing agreements with three supplement makers for its patented eye health ingredient, astaxanthin.
Valensa’s deal comes at the same time it has joined with krill omega-3 specialist, Neptune Technologies and Bioressources to develop astaxanthin-omega-3 combinations.
But the ingredient suffered a blow in Europe last week when the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) issued an opinion stating astaxanthin-linked eye health benefits were not supported by the available science.
But this side of the pond, Valensa’s patent backs several eye health conditions.
Valensa says its patent-protected process (University of Illinois; US 5,527,533) can be used by New York-based FutureBiotics; North Dakota-based Swanson Health Products and Arizona-based Life Extension Vitamins in eye health supplements.
The patent is relevant for light-induced retinal damage, age-related macular degeneration, photoreceptor cell retinal damage and damage to neurons of inner retinal layers and produces an ingredient with a four-year shelf life, Valensa said.
Along with lutein and zeaxanthin, astaxanthin has risen in the market due to research linking it with eye health.
Valensa president and chief executive officer, Dr Rudi E. Moerck, said it was gaining ground on the other two nutrients.
Four global leaders
Valensa is one of four major astaxanthin players – the others being Israel-based Algatechnologies, Hawaii-based Cyanotech and Japan’s Fuji Chemical Industry Company via its Scandiniavian subsidiary, Astareal.
Valensa said its primary market is Europe, where it claims to hold around 45 percent of the total astaxanthin market. In North America, the company said it holds around 35 percent market share. Dr Moerck said the Far East is also a growing market for Valensa, particularly Thailand, Malaysia, India and Korea.
The global astaxanthin market is estimated at about $252m, most of which is used in fish colouration. The human uses market is growing and estimated at about $27-$40m.
Most astaxanthin is derived from the algae, Haematococcus pluvialis, which is commonly consumed by fish and crustaceans – like salmon and lobster – and is responsible for their pink coloration.
