Botanicals, which are derived from plants and are widely used in foods, pharmaceutical and personal care products, range from herbs such as thyme, parsley and rosemary and spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg to green and black tea. According to Euromonitor International’s ingredients data, around 97.5% of the 2.6 million tons of botanicals in 2012 were used across food and beverage products.
 
Globally, opportunities for botanicals in food and drink products have opened up due to research highlighting the health benefits of tea, herbs and spices. A study published in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2012, for example, found that green tea consumption is significantly associated with a lower risk of diseases such as stroke, cognitive impairment and osteoporosis among Japanese consumers.
 
Asia-Pacific Leads; Regulations Hold Western Europe Back
The majority of botanical use stems from Asia-Pacific, buoyed by consumer awareness stemming from traditional medicinal practices. The region posted a CAGR of 9.6% over 2006-2011 to reach 1.2 million tons in 2011, almost double the usage in North America. Application in Western Europe remains much lower at 373,000 tons, as the use of botanicals in food and drink products within the EU is much more tightly regulated than in North America and Asia-Pacific, for example. As such, consumers are less aware of their health-related benefits and therefore less inclined to try the products.
 
In the EU, the use of botanicals and derived preparations in food has to comply with the general requirements set out in the regulation laying down general principles and requirements of food law and creating the European Food Safety Authority (Regulation (EC) No 178/2002). However, at the end of 2012, within Article 13.1 general health claims, 2,078 claims for botanicals remained on hold as the views on how these can and should be used are not harmonized across all Member States.
 
Opportunities: Relaxation Drinks, Green Tea & Confectionery
Botanicals have been successful in food and drink largely due to their “all-natural” label. The majority are used in soft drinks, with botanicals such as lavender and camomile, once the domain of aromatherapy, being pushed into this arena. Many new relaxation beverages contain botanicals and flavors such as camomile, rosehip, lavender and lemon verbena to induce or, at the very least, evoke a sense of calm. bChill, a relaxation drink that claims to provide a happy, relaxing feeling, was launched in Australia in 2012 by Trend Beverages Pty Ltd. The product contains L-theanine, an amino acid to help induce relaxation, as well as camomile, passion flower, rhodiola and lemon balm.
 
Green tea has also received considerable consumer attention due to its perceived
health properties, including anti-inflammatory characteristics and an ability to reduce anxiety. Tea is in fact the heaviest user of botanicals within food and drink, with global usage of just more than 50,000 tons and 537,000 tons in tea and ready-to-drink (RTD) tea combined. RTD tea is set to remain a highly successful product as companies continue to offer convenient, healthy products with a lower sugar content, and at a relatively low price point. Green tea in RTD format, for example, has seen sales escalate by 25% since 2007 in current terms to reach $13.7 billion in 2012, overtaking those of conventional green tea.
 
Other botanicals used in beverages include grape seed extracts, seaweed and herbs and spices, which lend themselves well to fortified/functional bottled water or fruit/herbal tea, both of which are set to see growth of more than $1 billion over the 2012-2017 forecast period. Such ingredients could also see increasing usage in sugar confectionery as they can be marketed as a permissible treat. With a global audience demanding more natural confectionery, manufacturers could add value to their products by promoting the health-related benefits of those ingredients that were once simply used as flavorings or colorings. Latin American and Asia-Pacific, which drove growth of HW sugar confectionery in absolute terms over the 2007-2012 review period, could be prime targets due to the strong relationship between herbal remedies and food and drink.
 
Swap Salt for Botanical Flavorings in Food
While the use of botanicals in food is well behind that in beverages, increasing attention is being paid toward the health benefits of spices. Botanical derivatives can, for example, also be used as flavorings, particularly as manufacturers seek to find new ways in which to replace the sodium chloride in food products but retain the flavor. Turmeric, for example, contains an active component, curcumin, which is believed to have antioxidant properties as well as help prevent chronic diseases such as arthritis.
 
In August 2011, the Journal of Nutrition published a study showing that a spice blend consisting of rosemary, oregano, cinnamon, turmeric, black pepper, cloves, garlic powder and paprika, when added to the meals of study participants, increased the antioxidant activity in their blood by 13%, while at the same time lowering their insulin responses by around 20% and reducing triglyceride responses by 30%. (For comparison, the researchers pointed out that the 14 grams of spice blend used per meal contained roughly the same quantity of antioxidants as 5 oz. (150ml) of red wine or 1.4 oz, (40 grams) of dark chocolate.) While these findings are impressive, the addition of 14 grams of spice mix to a meal is a lot to ask when consumers normally add little more than a sprinkle to their dishes. Nevertheless, there is demand for reduced-salt food, which has seen annual growth pick up since 2010 and reach 14% in 2012.
 
Beverages Retain Their Lead
However, until large enough doses can be added to a single product, demand for botanicals will continue to be driven by beverages, a category in which an increasing number of herbs and flowers will be incorporated into products.
 
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For further insight, contact Diana Cowland, Health and Wellness Analyst at Euromonitor International, at [email protected]