"Capture the 1 Trillion Market"... Intensifying Competition in Probiotics

Increased Health Management Demand Due to COVID-19... Popularity Grows Highlighting Benefits for Gut Health, Immunity, and Skin Care
Fermented Milk Market Forms 1 Trillion Won for 5 Consecutive Years... Active Competition with New Products Enhanced by Patented Probiotics

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] The competition to launch probiotic products in the food and beverage industry is intensifying. Due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), products containing probiotics that help with immunity and health management are gaining popularity. Accordingly, food and beverage companies are putting their all into launching various probiotic products to secure competitiveness in the ‘post-COVID’ era.

According to the Food Industry Statistical Information of the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT) on the 7th, the fermented milk market, a representative probiotic food, has grown for five consecutive years since 2014 and surpassed 1 trillion KRW last year. Market research firm Nielsen also projected that the domestic fermented milk market size is approaching 1.007 trillion KRW. This is due to the increased demand as the various benefits of probiotics?beneficial bacteria represented by probiotics?such as gut health, immunity, and skin beauty have been highlighted. Accordingly, the related market is expected to maintain over 1 trillion KRW this year as well.

Within the fermented milk market, the product category with the largest share is drinking-type products at 44%, followed by spoonable yogurt (hosang-ryu) at 40%, and liquid products such as Yakult at 12.6%. In response, the food and beverage industry is receiving positive consumer responses by introducing fermented milk with enhanced functionality using patented probiotics or renewing existing products through continuous probiotic research.

Purmil recently launched ‘Probio,’ a premium functional fermented milk containing fermented milk research technology and CJ CheilJedang’s patented probiotics. Probio contains ‘CJLP243,’ an independently produced patented probiotic by CJ CheilJedang, which helps with sensitive and bloated intestines. The ‘CJLP243,’ developed with a focus on the gut health of Koreans, features excellent survivability reaching the intestines and strong adhesion to intestinal epithelial cells through a quadruple coating technology. Additionally, only strains with superior functions were extracted and cultured through consumer health research for immune enhancement in modern people and plant-derived probiotic research.

Purmil has focused on probiotic products and has conducted steady research on fermented milk for 43 years. The representative gut health fermented milk ‘Bifidus,’ launched in 1995, has been consistently loved for 25 years. Bifidus aimed to develop a functional probiotic yogurt differentiated from the yogurts available in the market at that time, and Purmil’s development team sought to create a product containing ‘Bifidus BB-12® Probiotics’ to help gut health. Since then, Purmil Bifidus has introduced flavors such as apple, blueberry, and plain in line with trends, and last year launched ‘Probiotics Bifidus Plain,’ which received a good response.

A Purmil official explained, “Recently, as consumer demand for immunity has increased due to COVID-19, we have been focusing on developing differentiated fermented milk, such as launching ‘Triple Care,’ a fermented milk containing three complex probiotics, Sanghwang mushroom extract, and zinc oxide, which considers immunity.”

Binggrae launched a high-protein yogurt ‘Yoplait Protein’ and began targeting the market. ‘Yoplait Protein’ was released in two drinking types (plain, strawberry banana) and two spoonable types (plain, blueberry), and is a fermented milk product that allows simultaneous intake of protein and probiotics. The drinking product contains 18g of protein per bottle, which corresponds to 45% of the average daily protein requirement of 40g for women in their 30s, as suggested by the Korean Nutrition Society. A Binggrae official said, “We will continue to introduce new products that meet consumers’ diverse needs through Binggrae’s fermented milk technology.”

Maeil Dairies renewed and launched ‘Maeil Bio,’ a yogurt containing LGG probiotics, which is the most researched probiotic in the world. The LGG probiotics contained in Maeil Bio were discovered in 1985 by Dr. Gorbach and Dr. Goldin at Tufts University School of Medicine in the United States, and its efficacy and safety have been proven through the largest number of studies worldwide, including 314 immunity-related papers, 24 respiratory infection papers, 1,028 research papers, and 233 clinical trials.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.