Market Challenges And Opportunities

Drivers

Growing cases of malnutrition around the globe are projected to propel the market growth of Ready to use therapeutic food. According to the World Health organization, in 2016, an estimated 155 million children under the age of 5 years were suffering from stunting, while 41 million were overweight or obese. Around 45% of deaths among children under 5 years of age are linked to undernutrition. Therefore, growing cases of malnutrition around the globe are propelling the market growth of ready to use therapeutic food.

Growing demand for drinkable RUTF products is expected to foster the market growth of ready to use therapeutic food. It is difficult to feed infants RUTF paste to treat malnutrition, hence this factor is expected to raise the demand for drinkable RUTF products such as therapeutic milk. Hence, drinkable RUFT products are gaining huge demand from infants and this, in turn, is augmenting the market growth of ready to use therapeutic food.

Market Restraints

Factors such as inconsistency in RUTF milk products and risk of microbial contamination and absence of specific commodity standards in the Codex Alimentarius for therapeutic milk by UNICEF are expected to hinder the market growth of RUFT. Moreover, many manufacturers of ready-to-use therapeutic food products are not following the World Health Organization (WHO) standard of food product preparation which is leading to microbial contamination.

RUFT products are too expensive to use besides the treatment of severe acute malnutrition and their provision highly depends on short-term external funding for emergency programs or humanitarian. This factor is expected to hinder the market growth of ready to use therapeutic food over the forecast period.

Market Opportunities

Growing research for developing alternative of raw materials used for the preparation of ready to use therapeutic food. At present RUTF products are prepared by using peanuts, vitamins and minerals, oil, and milk powder which are significantly high, resulting in a higher cost of the end product. In order to deal with this, various manufacturer are conducting research and development activities for developing a cost-effective substitute for these raw materials.

The rising focus of manufacturers to launch of bar and biscuits RUTF products is expected to lucrative growth opportunity to the market of RUTF. Moreover, various manufacturers are also focusing on developing powder form of RUTF products which is creating a huge opportunity for the manufacturer to expand their presence in the market.

Figure 2. Global Ready-to-use Therapeutic Food Market– Opportunity Analysis