Gregory Stephens, RD01.01.11
The healthy human gastrointestinal tract is home to 100 trillion microorganisms (roughly), which help promote healthy GI function, systemic metabolism and immune function. Unfortunately, many diets today are deficient in these essential microorganisms or “healthy” bacteria for a variety of reasons, including processing of foods and sterilization of the food supply. As awareness of the benefits of probiotic consumption emerges, the need for more effective and consumer-friendly sources will continue to grow so consumers can benefit from these mighty bacteria.
During focus groups with primary grocery shoppers about 10 years ago, the concept of foods with added probiotics elicited fairly consistent reactions. In fact, a question from one participant summed up the consensus from multiple groups in several U.S. cities: “Let me get this straight—you expect me to eat food that you’ve added live bugs to?”
Fortunately, U.S. consumers have become more educated since then, which means probiotics are reaching more mainstream consumers and becoming a significant mass market opportunity. As the probiotic market continues to gain momentum, it will represent significant opportunities in both dietary supplement and functional food applications. Recent research from the Natural Marketing Institute (NMI) provides insights into how consumers perceive these healthy bacteria. These insights underline both the challenges and opportunities in this rapidly growing market.
Awareness of Probiotics
Consumer awareness of the term “probiotics” has grown from a mere 9% in 2002 to 60% of U.S. adults in 2009—a 567% increase in awareness in only eight years. Much of the increase may be attributed to media exposure and marketing of yogurts and other dairy products praising the benefits of healthy bacteria. In fact, much of the rapid increase in awareness occurred after 2006, the year Activia was launched in the U.S.
There is an unmet need affecting the increasing awareness, however, including an aging population with a high incidence of digestive conditions and emerging research substantiating a link between a healthy GI tract and increased immune health, energy, skin health and weight loss.
But still, while awareness has shown some dramatic gains, the use of probiotic foods is much lower, with about 17% of the population indicating they have used probiotic-enriched foods in the past 30 days. And slightly more than one in 10 indicates they use probiotics in supplement forms.
There are many ways to increase probiotic usage rates. But perhaps most crucial, many consumers simply lack clear understanding of the benefits. This factor may be one of the major barriers to consumer usage, as NMI research reveals consumers show very low and fragmented understanding of how probiotics can benefit their health.
Perceived Benefits
Only one of five consumers associates probiotics with digestive health. But after digestive health, very few understand any other benefits of probiotics, thereby limiting the value of probiotics in their minds.
Since most digestive problems are acute, consumers may not be concerned about digestive problems until a problem actually occurs, lessening the perceived need for continued use of a probiotic product. According to NMI’s Supplement/OTC/Rx Database, the top reasons probiotic users listed as to why they stop using probiotics center around lack of perceived need: “I only use it when I need it” (28%); “No longer managing the issue I was taking the product for” (25%).
Increasing Consumption
While government regulations limit communication of the benefits of probiotics via health claims, the industry may need to expand messaging of these benefits to increase both trial and compliance.
Interestingly, current users of probiotics index high compared to the general population for many “emotional” conditions, including stress, sleeplessness, anxiety and depression. This connection opens up an array of opportunities for expanded indications (supported by research), line extensions or simply a novel point of differentiation.
Consumers are taking more responsibility for their health and are increasingly looking toward food and supplements to help them meet their needs. This marks a slow but progressive movement toward a preventative form of health management. Consumers want to be involved in their health management and show a strong willingness to use nutrition as well as other new and emerging methods to ensure their health. This openness to new methods of maintenance should allow continued growth for the probiotics industry across a variety of health issues and product applications.