Frost & Sullivan officially releases the 'White Paper on the Chinese Enzyme-Based Food Market 2024'

Overview of the Enzyme-Based Food Market

Enzyme-based foods refer to various foods made by processing one or more enzymes and adding them to food or through enzyme catalysis. They utilize the high-efficiency catalytic characteristics and specificity of enzymes to promote the food industry towards green, safe, and sustainable directions.

Enzyme-based foods refer to various foods made by processing one or more enzymes and adding them to food or through enzyme catalysis. Enzymes are a class of proteins produced by living organisms that efficiently and specifically accelerate specific biochemical reactions under mild conditions, without participating in or being consumed by the reactions themselves. As natural biocatalysts, enzymes have become one of the core raw materials for the transformation and upgrading of the food industry due to their efficiency, specificity, and environmental friendliness. Since enzyme catalysis can replace traditional chemical methods, improve product quality, and develop healthy foods, enzymes have not only promoted the sustainable development of the food industry but also met consumers' demand for safe, natural, and functional foods.

The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB) classifies enzymes into six major categories based on the type of reaction catalyzed by them, each represented by an EC number, including oxidoreductases, transferases, hydrolases, lyases, isomerases, and ligases. In addition, according to the source of the enzyme, enzymes can be divided into microbial enzymes, plant enzymes, and animal enzymes. According to the substrate, enzymes can also be classified into amylase, protease, lipase, cellulase, lactase, etc.

Source: Frost & Sullivan analysis

The development of enzyme-based foods has gone through a process from food-grade enzyme preparations to enzyme-based foods, including four stages: basic product exploration, industrial application expansion, functionalization and refinement, and the development of enzyme-based foods, achieving a leapfrog upgrade from traditional processing to health function orientation.

The development stages of China's enzyme-based food industry mainly include the basic product exploration stage, industrial application expansion stage, functionalization and refinement stage, and the development stage of enzyme-based foods. The basic exploration stage mainly includes crude amylase, protease and other basic enzymes, relying on imported technologies and applied in traditional fields such as brewing and bread fermentation. The industrial application expansion stage promotes the large-scale production of dairy products, fruit juice processing, starch sugar and other food processing through technology introduction and localization, achieving application expansion. The functionalization and refinement stage takes genetic engineering as the core, launches highly active enzyme preparations, and is precisely applied to functional foods, deep processing of dairy products and nutritional fortification, significantly improving the technical autonomy and product added value. In recent years, the development of enzyme-based foods has been achieved through innovative enzyme-based technologies, optimizing various food enzymes, promoting absorption efficiency, maintaining activity, and increasing activation speed. The overall development process of enzyme-based foods has gradually shifted from basic processing to health function orientation, achieving a leap from technology dependence to independent innovation.

Source: Frost & Sullivan analysis

The enzyme-based food market is experiencing a rapid growth stage. Driven by technological innovation, product diversification, and relevant policies, the market penetration rate will continue to increase.

The market for enzyme-based functional foods is experiencing rapid growth and development, and enzymes are widely used in the processing and production of functional foods. As an efficient biocatalyst, enzymes have significant advantages in improving food quality, taste, and nutritional value due to their unique properties and functions. In 2024, the potential market scale of China's enzyme-based functional food market is about 21.36 billion yuan, and it is expected to reach 37.63 billion yuan by 2029, with an annual compound growth rate of about 12.0% during this period.

Thanks to the increasing demand of consumers for healthy, nutritious, and functional foods, enzyme-based foods, based on enzyme technology, can optimize various food enzymes, promote absorption efficiency, maintain activity, increase activation speed, etc., covering multiple health fields such as health management, immune regulation, and weight management. The market demand continues to grow. As innovative products, the current market penetration rate of enzyme-based foods is relatively low. The potential market scale of the enzyme-based food market in 2024 is about 530 million yuan. In the future, with the continuous increase in the market penetration rate of enzyme-based foods, it is expected that the potential market scale of the enzyme-based food market will reach about 2.82 billion yuan by 2029, with an annual compound growth rate of 39.7% from 2024 to 2029.

Source: Frost & Sullivan analysis

● Policy Support

With the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle and the increasing attention to food safety, the enzyme-based food market is welcoming broad development opportunities. The Chinese government has become an important force in promoting the development of this market through a series of policy supports. First, China has strengthened legislation and standard setting for food safety to ensure the safety and effectiveness of enzyme-based foods. Relevant institutions such as the National Health Commission and the State Administration for Market Regulation have jointly formulated strict national food safety standards, regulating the use of food additives including enzyme preparations. These regulations provide consumers with safety guarantees and also lay a good foundation for the development of enzyme-based foods.

● Rising Health Awareness

With the rapid development of China's economy and the significant improvement in people's living standards, public attention to health is increasing day by day. The rise in health awareness has become one of the key factors driving the development of China's enzyme-based food market. Consumers are increasingly inclined to choose foods that can provide additional health benefits, help prevent diseases, or promote overall health. Therefore, enzyme-based foods are highly favored due to their unique functional characteristics.

● Technological Innovation

Technological innovation has played a crucial role in the rapid development of China's enzyme-based food market and has become the core driving force for market growth. The application of enzyme-based technologies such as lock freshness and activation effectively improves product quality and market competitiveness. These technologies can not only enhance enzyme activity and ensure that they perform best during processing but also effectively extend the freshness and shelf life of food, meeting consumers' demand for high-quality enzyme-based products.

● Expansion of Emerging Application Areas

With the progress of technology and the improvement of consumers' health awareness, the application scope of enzyme-based foods is expanding from traditional food processing fields to more diversified emerging application scenarios. For example, in the field of functional foods, the application of enzymes can enhance the nutritional value and health care functions of products, meeting the personalized needs of different consumers. In addition, with the continuous innovation of biotechnology, new enzyme preparations are emerging continuously, and their application in food processing will be more extensive and efficient. By continuously developing new application scenarios, the enzyme-based food market will embrace broader development prospects.

● Development of New Enzymes

With the rapid development of innovative technologies, new enzyme preparations are emerging continuously, showing significant advantages in aspects such as lock freshness and activation, and can meet the market's demand for high-quality foods. These enzyme preparations not only improve food processing efficiency but also maintain high activity and stability in special environments, ensuring the functional realization of enzyme-based foods. In the future, with further technological breakthroughs, the application of enzyme preparations in the food industry will be more extensive, and the development of new enzymes will also promote the continuous development of China's enzyme-based food market towards diversification, high quality, and greening.

● Personalized Customized Products

With the improvement of consumers' health awareness and personalized needs, the customized sub-category of enzyme-based foods is gradually emerging. In the food field, consumers' personalized needs for low-sugar, low-fat, high-fiber and other healthy foods are increasing, driving enzyme-based food production enterprises to develop corresponding customized products, such as personalized sports nutrition foods and special medical foods for special population needs. In addition, with the progress of biotechnology, the types and functions of enzyme preparations are continuously expanding, and production enterprises can provide customized enzyme-based food solutions according to customers' specific needs, meeting the differentiated requirements of different people for enzyme performance and enzyme-based foods.