Demand up in Asia for dairy ingredients

The Asia-Pacific is the largest diary ingredients market followed by Europe and North America, according to a new report from Persistence Market Research. Rising population, urbanisation and increasing demand for dairy products in food consumption is expected to increase the overall demand for diary ingredients. Milk powder holds the largest share in global diary ingredients market, while milk protein concentrates and milk protein isolates have high growth prospects due to increasing sports activities globally, as they have high usage as sports supplements. Consumers are increasingly becoming more active on maintaining a good health and are conscious to include various nutraceuticals food products (including dairy ingredients) in their regular diet. The rising popularity of protein-enriched foods and beverages has also led to increasing awareness among consumers to become more conscious towards health benefits related with a dairy-rich diet.

Urbanisation in the world crossed the 50% mark in 2009. According to the United Nations, urban population is expected to increase from 3.4 billion in 2009 to 6.3 billion in 2050. Additionally, increasing demand from an aging population is expected to drive the global dairy ingredients market. According to The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), Population Division (2013), there were 841 million people aged 60 years and above compared to 205 million in 1950. It is projected to reach over 2 billion by 2050. Increase disposable income enables the consumers to pay premium price for products with proven benefits. Increasing innovations in the industry help to drive down the cost of production and incorporate additional benefits to the products. This also acts as an important driver for the dairy ingredient market, the analysts note.