With most Americans only consuming about half the recommended amount of 25 to 30 grams of fiber daily, major food companies and other industry players are introducing waves of new fiber-fortified food and beverage products, according to a new report from Packaged Facts titled “Fiber Food Ingredients in the U.S.: Soluble-, Insoluble- and Digestive-Resistant Types.”

Coinciding with the increased activity in the highly competitive category are numerous growth opportunities that will also create shifts in the types of fiber ingredients utilized in future products, the report states.

“Packaged Facts determined that sales of all fiber food ingredients (i.e., conventional, insoluble-type fibers; conventional, soluble-type fibers; and novel fiber food ingredients) will continue to increase indefinitely, as the market for fiber-enhanced foods is still in its infancy,” said Don Montuori, publisher of Packaged Facts. “There is a great deal of room for growth across almost all food categories, which presents an opportunity for the many different fiber ingredients that are among the most popular with today’s food formulators.”

In particular, formulators are embracing novel fibers—most of which have only been available to formulators since the turn of the century or for an even shorter period of time. Novel fibers have gained the attention of formulators due to their versatility and invisible nature in food applications that previously were not conducive to fiber enrichment. This, along with the desire of food manufacturers to increase the soluble fiber content of foods, has Packaged Facts predicting that the novel fiber food ingredient category will increase its share of the market by more than 750%, jumping 35 percentage points from an almost 5% share in 2004 to a 39% share in 2014.

Packaged Facts estimates that in 2004, 91% of all fiber food ingredient sales were of conventional, insoluble-type fibers—the fiber food ingredients that have historically been used the most in food formulations. The remaining 9% share was split evenly between conventional, soluble-type fibers and emerging, novel fibers. Future projections are that the share for conventional, insoluble-type fibers will decrease by 41%, or 38 percentage points in 2014, while the share for the mostly new or newly refined conventional, soluble-type fibers will increase 64%, or almost 3 percentage points.

The report examines the fiber-fortified food and beverage category from two angles. The primary focus is on available fiber ingredients and the suppliers that provide them to the consumables industry. Also explored are the finished products in the marketplace and the Americans that purchase them.

Further, the report provides insight to the types of fiber and their proven benefit; the companies that supply the ingredients, including a competitive analysis by fiber type and application; marketplace success stories; consumer understanding of the category as well as use of fiber-fortified products and more.