New Zealand delivers new opportunities in functional foods

Awareness of the link between nutrition and health is driving a growth in consumer demand around the world for food products that promote health and nutrition, creating new growth opportunities for global food companies.

New Zealand is perfectly placed to deliver new opportunities in functional foods. Our functional food industry leverages off New Zealand’s expertise as a major producer of healthy, high quality food. We have a number of internationally renowned research institutions and companies undertaking leading-edge research into the functionality of foods and the intersection of food science with disease prevention and treatment.

A temperate climate and a pristine growing environment, coupled with our natural biodiversity make New Zealand an ideal place to develop and manufacture innovative new foods. Excellent demographics and a culture of early adoption of new technologies also make New Zealand an ideal test market.

Excellence in functional foods

New Zealand is renowned for identifying and exploiting the medicinal uses of food products. For example, world-leading research enabled our companies to harness the unique antibacterial properties of New Zealand’s Manuka honey. Active Manuka honey and honey products are an established health and digestive aid, and are now being used in a patented range of dressings for burns, ulcers and wounds.

Our companies are trusted suppliers of vitamin and health supplement products. By leveraging off New Zealand’s impeccable food safety credentials, they have created commercially successful products in several fast growing markets, such as green-lipped mussel extracts used to improve joint mobility. New Zealand-developed Meracol is a patented fatty acid ester compound from an edible plant source, that has been clinically proven to help irritable bowel symptoms.

New Zealand is also a recognised leader in sports nutrition products, like specialist natural products for competitive bodybuilding. We have a track-record of delivering innovative and commercially successful nutritional products, such as the first chocolate that incorporates the natural sugar Gaio® Tagatose, making it suitable for diabetics.

Our companies meet consumer demand for food products with added health benefits. We have food ingredients such as a natural beta-glucan barley extract with excellent food texturising properties that can potentially reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

New Zealand is also renowned for its processing expertise. The industry recently produced the world’s first Omega3 and Omega6 preparations made from kiwifruit seeds. New Zealand has also developed patented technology to produce a kiwifruit-based digestion remedy without destroying the medically-beneficial enzymes.

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