The healthcare sector has been booming all around the globe, and Egypt is nowhere behind in following the same path. With a population of around 100 million, the country has been taking active measures in order to provide efficient & cost-effective healthcare. With digitalization trends, Egyptians are showing greater interest in purchasing their daily essentials online, which also include medicines & wellness products. More & more people are becoming aware of the significance & health benefits of consuming dietary supplements & antioxidants, especially after the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has boosted the country's healthcare, food & beverage, and retail sectors.

With these trends, nutraceuticals have gained immense momentum and are becoming the daily essentials of Egyptians. A recent research study has projected around 11.11% CAGR for the Egypt Nutraceuticals Market during 2023-28. Diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure & cholesterol, cardiovascular diseases, etc., are becoming increasingly prevalent in the country, which owes primarily to lifestyle changes and the high intake of sugary & oily food products. Consequently, there's a rising demand for dietary supplements across Egypt, i.e., propelling the nutraceuticals market expansion.

Key Highlights from the Egypt Nutraceuticals Market Research Report

• With growing health consciousness among Egyptians, the country is witnessing customization trends in nutraceuticals, which have emerged as a crucial intervention in prognostic & proactive health.
• Functional food, especially Probiotics fortified food, garnered the largest share of the nutraceuticals market in Egypt, driven mainly by growing consumer awareness of their advantages like balanced health, better digestion & absorption of nutrients, etc.
• On the other hand, functional beverages are also gaining traction with the ever-increased consumption of sports drinks by fitness enthusiasts & athletes. As a result, nutraceuticals are in high demand for such beverages, the most prominent consumer of which is the millennial population.
• Recent years have seen an increase in online nutraceutical sales in Egypt as a result of the government's push for digitalization across a wide range of end-user verticals. Consequently, the leading participants in the market are following the same approach in order to expand their reach & consumer base.
• More & more e-commerce platforms with consumer benefits, such as an extensive range of products of different brands & budgets, door-step deliveries, easy finance options, and exciting deals, among others, are being launched in the country. This move is set to accelerate the sales of various wellness products & nutraceuticals and, in turn, propel the overall market growth over the coming years.
• In February 2022, Affirma Capital & StonePine agreed to make a joint investment of around US$20m for a minority stake in Nerhadou International (Egypt) for Pharmaceuticals & Nutraceuticals.

Some Prominent Trends Shaping the Nutraceuticals Industry in Egypt

Several Egyptians demand clean nutrition–transparency, so they know what exactly is in the products they consume. It ascribes mainly to their dietary choices (vegan or vegetarian) or their preference for natural products over chemically produced ones. Hence, in order to cater to these changing consumer demands, the industry players are massively investing in R&D and innovations to find viable alternatives like cellulose-based options for gelatin capsules, liquid capsules, or plant-based alternatives for protein.

Additionally, as the country is also witnessing the advent of therapeutic applications of nutraceuticals that focus on specific areas of wellness & nutrition, more & more product categories are being introduced in the market. Hence, there's now an extensive range of supplements focused on traditional healthcare areas, coupled with an expanding domain of cognitive wellness.

Another trend that promises profitable prospects for the industry is the rigorous ongoing research for bringing advancements in ingredients. Botanical extracts are the prime ingredients of wellness supplements, which are challenging to harness, unstable, or have compounds that require processing for safe consumption.

However, with the emergence of new extraction methods, there now exist several applications, which earlier were not doable, such as CBD extraction from cannabis. Innovations in chemical engineering now allow THC to be isolated. Such developments promise to widen the availability of new botanical elements and expand the production of specific compounds for their use as nutraceutical ingredients.

Future Directions

In recent years, nutraceuticals have gathered notable consumer interest due to their potential nutritional & therapeutic properties, which are helping consumers attain greater wellness. As sedentary lifestyles & work-life imbalance due to the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic took a toll on both the physical & mental health of people, the fitness revolution that followed has been instigating more & more consumers toward adopting a healthier lifestyle. With trends like personalized product options, shifting consumer preference for clean nutrition, & the emergence of pharmaceuticals in the Nutra domain, among others, the nutraceuticals industry is well poised to attain considerable growth in Egypt over the coming years.