Functional market won’t wait for procrastinators, says analyst

Innovation in the functional food and beverage industry is currently passing the eye before the storm, and manufacturers must not hesitate to act or they will be “lost”, market analyst James Tonkin tells Lorraine Heller.

"If you hibernate now and don’t take advantage of the low cost of entry because the economic conditions are soft right now then you’re making a huge mistake,” said Tonkin of HealthyBrandBuilders.com after a presentation he gave at the recent SupplySide East show.

“Behind the scenes there’s a tremendous amount of activity in the research and development side. Over the next couple of years particularly I think you’re going to see a lot of the ingredients that have been marketed to the beverage and food world at shows like SupplySide East and West coming into new products,” he said.

Tonkin expects areas of continued interest to include heart health, satiety and gut health.