Huaxi Bio: Hyaluronic acid food is the next trend

Hyaluronic acid has been widely used in the field of medical beauty and cosmetics in recent years, and has been called the "sacred beauty product" and has been recognized by the public. As everyone knows, the proportion and growth rate of hyaluronic acid in global food have surpassed that of cosmetics and medicine. Frost & Sullivan's research shows that global food-grade hyaluronic acid sales accounted for 46% of total sales in 2018, and the compound growth rate of sales from 2014 to 2018 was 29.4%, which is higher than cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

A few days ago, when Huaxi Bio-Chairman Zhao Yan attended the "Dialogue Shandong-Japan·Shandong Industry Cooperation and Exchange Conference" themed seminar, he expressed his optimism about the application prospects of hyaluronic acid in food, and believed that food-grade hyaluronic acid has greater advantages. The market and development potential will become the next industry outlet.


Food-grade raw materials have huge market potential

Hyaluronic acid (HA), as a human body's own substance, is widely present in the body's joint cavities, skin, eye vitreous, cartilage, umbilical cord and other tissues. With age, the content of hyaluronic acid in the human body gradually decreases. When 30, 50, and 60 years old, the hyaluronic acid in the human body drops to 65%, 45%, and 25% of 20 years old, respectively. The reduction of hyaluronic acid can cause many problems such as arthritis, skin aging, increased wrinkles, and vertigo.

A number of professional studies have found that oral hyaluronic acid can improve human skin moisture, have the effects of anti-oxidation in the body, improve joint function osteoporosis, repair gastric mucosal damage, and have high oral safety.

In the late 1980s, the Japanese market first introduced oral hyaluronic acid beauty and health food, which fully affirmed the safety of hyaluronic acid. With the gradual deepening of people’s understanding of the substance of hyaluronic acid, the application field of hyaluronic acid has further opened up. At present, in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, the Czech Republic, Brazil and other countries, there are many types of health care containing hyaluronic acid. Foods are on the market. Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have also launched a large number of common foods containing hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid has been recognized in many countries or regions as a raw material for food or health food.

For example, in Japan, foods containing hyaluronic acid have become very common. According to Mintel Global New Product Database (GNPD), in 2020, hyaluronic acid ranks eighth among the functional ingredients of Japanese functional foods, and 161 kinds of foods contain hyaluronic acid in Japan.

The application of hyaluronic acid foods has subsequently driven the large-scale growth of the food-grade hyaluronic acid raw materials market. According to Frost & Sullivan's forecast, the compound growth rate of global food-grade hyaluronic acid raw materials sales in the next three years will be 23.3%, and the market potential and scale are huge.


China will become an explosive blue ocean

In our country, the current application fields of hyaluronic acid are still mainly concentrated in medicine, clinical diagnosis and treatment, and cosmetics. The application of hyaluronic acid in food is still in its infancy.

In May 2008, the Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China issued a related announcement in accordance with the "New Resource Food Management Measures", approving hyaluronic acid as a new resource food to be used as a health food raw material. At present, there are only more than 20 kinds of health foods containing hyaluronic acid on the market in my country. Most of the declared functions are to improve skin moisture and increase bone density. The application of hyaluronic acid in food has yet to be fully opened.

In recent years, there have been more and more studies on the absorption, metabolism and efficacy of hyaluronic acid after oral administration at home and abroad. A large amount of scientific evidence confirms the multiple efficacy and safety of oral hyaluronic acid. At the same time, under the general health trend, functional foods are favored by the market. More and more domestic consumers are paying attention to hyaluronic acid, a new food material, to purchase hyaluronic acid functional foods from abroad. It is understood that a bone-building functional food "MoveFree" that Chinese consumers often buy overseas uses hyaluronic acid as its core ingredient.

Industry veterans believe that China is a major country of hyaluronic acid raw materials, and it could have produced its own end-products to meet consumption, but because of policy restrictions, it is a pity that this market is handed over to foreign brands. The current "internal circulation" development strategy proposed by the country is precisely this. Market demand and the recognition of hyaluronic acid food by foreign laws will also force my country to accelerate the establishment of hyaluronic acid access standards in food. China's hyaluronic acid food market belongs to the big blue ocean. Once access is opened, it will usher in explosive growth.

Facing the huge blue ocean, hyaluronic acid companies such as Huaxi Biotechnology have taken the lead in setting up the food-grade hyaluronic acid raw material market in terms of registration, quality management, and technical support. It is foreseeable that the application of hyaluronic acid in food will become more and more common in the future, and this will not only bring higher profit growth for enterprises, but also further play the role of hyaluronic acid to provide consumers with a healthy diet. A better choice.