Probiotics: Going Beyond Digestive Health?

The intestinal tract is home to approximately 100 trillion microorganisms which help promote normal gastrointestinal function, systemic metabolism and immune function. Most modern diets are deficient in these essential microorganisms or healthy bacteria due to over-processing of food, sterilization of the food supply and depletion of nutrients from the soil. As the benefits of probiotic consumption continue to emerge, the need for more effective and consumer-friendly formats will continue to grow so consumers can experience all the health benefits of these mighty bacteria.

In the past few years, probiotics have entered the mainstream and are becoming a significant mass market opportunity. As the probiotic market continues to gain momentum, it will represent significant opportunities in both dietary supplements and functional food applications. Natural Marketing Institute provides insights into how consumers perceive these healthy bacteria and the challenges and opportunities that exist within this fast emerging market.

Probiotic Landscape

Awareness of the term "probiotics" by American adults has grown significantly in only eight years. Much of the increase may be attributed to the media exposure and product marketing of mainstream yogurts and other dairy products publicizing the benefits of probiotic content. In fact, much of the increase in awareness occurred after 2006, the year Activia was launched in the U.S.

Other dynamics which are facilitating the mainstreaming of probiotics include:

• High incidence of digestive conditions in the population
• Increased consumer interest in functional foods
• Emerging encapsulation processes which allow probiotics to be added to non-refrigerated foods such as breads and cereals
• Discovery of links between detoxification of the intestinal tract and increased health and wellness, energy, skin health, and weight loss

Conversely, while awareness has shown some dramatic gains, use of probiotic enriched foods and supplements is much lower among the U.S. population.

There may be several opportunities to increase the aforementioned probiotic usage rates. Most importantly, 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. In addition, continued product expansion outside dairy should help probiotics in foods and beverages.

Expanding Probiotics

While current government regulations may limit product health claims, the probiotic industry will need to take steps to deepen the value of probiotic use by expanding messaging across an array of benefits in order to increase consumer need and compliance.

Probiotic Users index high against the general population for many "emotional" conditions including stress, sleeplessness, anxiety, and depression. Could the emotional issues be fueling the digestive problems or are the digestive problems causing the emotional issues? Perhaps a catch-22, but the connection opens up an array of opportunities for the probiotic industry. Several of these indications may point to brand line extensions or other product differentiation opportunities.

In addition, detoxification is a strong message to attract the youngest generations to a probiotic product. In fact, over a third of consumers under the age of 45 indicate they often look for ways to remove the build-up of toxins in their digestive system. Coupled with lifestyle risk factors such as stress, alcohol, and pollution, messaging promoting the detoxification aspects of probiotics should capture young consumers' attention and help initiate trial and maintain compliance.

Therefore probiotic marketing may need to reach beyond simple "digestive health" and into other areas such as stress and detoxification in order to increase both consumer targets, usage and compliance of probiotic products. Additionally, messaging will need to be clear that sustained consumption of probiotics is required to maintain colonization within the digestive tract in order to realize the continual benefits. Finally, the probiotic industry will need to stay up to date with consumer attitudes surrounding their overall health in order to better equip themselves with the insights to more effectively market a rather unusual product such as "healthy bacteria" surrounding a somewhat delicate issue such as digestive health.

Consumers are taking on more responsibility for their health and are looking to both food and supplements in order to provide long term health and vitality. This marks a slow but progressive movement towards 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 various health issues and systems of delivery.