A global industry survey done by Nutrify Today and the Baker Dillon Group, a USA-based nutraceuticals brand marketing firm, has indicated there is a growing optimism around the food and nutrition industry globally. Nutra industry representatives from the USA, Israel, Switzerland, Singapore, India, Hong Kong, and Japan were engaged in the survey.
Technological advancements in the industry will enable a more personalised approach towards nutrition over the next three years with accurate sensors possible via collaborations with expertise in the medtech industry, said 26% of respondents.
12% of the respondents also believe profiling individuals and providing specific dosages and ingredients for their requirements will be a possibility too. Food will be prepared by a convergence of robotics and 3D printing using lab grown ingredients as per the biochemistry and need of the body at that time, the respondents suggested.
Artificial intelligence will play a pivotal role in the nutra industry too, noted 15% of the survey participants.
Amit Srivastava, Chief Catalyst, and founder of Nutrify Today said: “Automated personalised nutrition where artificial intelligence will manage the nutrient needs and the source of ingredients will evolve into sustainable methodologies using biotech.
“There are already early-stage entrants who are working on Nutra-tech. Nutraceuticals of the future will be a multi-disciplinary function of science which will drive personalized precision nutrition into habits of individuals rather than individuals changing habits to adopt something new.”
The survey also discovered optimism about India’s role in the future of the industry. Around 24% of the respondents believe it will be a leading innovator second only to the United States. The strengths of the Indian IT industry coupled with hubs of MedTech like Biovalley Incubation Council and AMTZ in India, are expected to drive innovation in nutra tech.
Most of the industry leaders already believe that the existing early versions of nutra tech products in the market have done well in the US. Precision nutrition using tech is going to gain global significance in the future, they said. With growing adoption of fingerprinting of phyto ingredients, deployment of block-chain technologies, it will also change the agricultural sector with an increased demand for nutrition-rich. The respondents also identified certain challenges like lack of skilled workforce and global regulatory framework, data privacy, and high cost.
“In a complex environment with opportunity and challenges, it’s often the new generation of star- ups that drive innovation and the same is evident from all emerging success stories across the world,” said Srivastava “Tech nutra will be an innovation driven by start-ups and eventually there will be large nutrition conglomerates who will enter this segment by way of merger and acquisition.”
