COVID-19 Impact on Pharmaceutical Packaging in Chemicals and Materials Industry

COVID-19 Impact on Vitamins and Supplements in the Food And Beverage Industry

  • Food & Beverage
  • Sep 28, 2020

Introduction  

The virus (COVID-19) ranging from common cold Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has affected people in the entire world within a short period of span and has created a critical situation including economic and social challenges. Vitamin supplements are required by people suffering from a particular medical condition that leads to deficiencies. The intake of vitamin supplements helps in fulfilling the requirement of the body.

As per WHO (World Health Organization) there have been no cases of transmission of COVID-19 through food and food packaging but measures such as good manufacturing practices (GMPs) along with sanitation and cleaning of food processing equipment and facilities should be followed.

The supplement industry has increased among the multiple pockets as most of the consumer has raised their interest on overall health and wellness. There has been an immense growth in the vitamins required for supplement industry.

Pre-Covid 19 Impacts

The U.S. VMS industry experienced steady growth of 6% per year from 2015-2019, surpassing growth in both related segments, such as functional foods and drinks (2% -3% per year), and the U.S. GDP (2% -3% per annum) for the same time span.

For instance,

  • The farmer favorability survey shows that 75 percent of people shared a favorable opinion of the U.K. agriculture, which is the highest figure since OnePoll started conducting the annual survey in 2012. This also marks an improvement of six percentage points in public favorability since June 2019, which is in addition to a further rise of five percentage points from June 2018–2019.

The demand was high till the end of the year of 2019, then pandemic came and caused critical situation in the market and led into supply and demand chain disruption. 

Post Covid 19 Impact

In July 2020, The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) have announced the Awards function for the Food and Drink Federation Association which will take place at The Royal Lancaster, London in February 2021. The annual awards recognize those involved in the industry's dedication and determination, actions that ensured that the nation was fed during the pandemic.

During the start month of 2020, corona spread took place and it resulted into lockdown in city, courtiers. These typical measures included social distancing, closing hotels, schools, restaurants and many other places such as stores. Due to shut down in the store facility and also transportation, there was lack in the products in market for consumers. Also, international borders were made closed which limited the supply of food products such and convenience and healthy foods, and because of this food supply chains were completely broken or drastically changed with food business. Consumers were not getting their food products and manufacturer was not getting enough raw materials for the production of healthy foods. Due to these reasons, demand and the market value for the healthy foods were decreasing.

As with the strict measures, the governing authorities reopened the transportation facilities and shops and many others, again the shelves in the shops are fulfilled with the food products and consumers are now able to get their choice of desired need.

Further manufacturers have taken few initiatives from their end by taking strict measures for the production of food products. Due to reopening of the supply chain has helped the consumers and manufacturer to get fulfilled with desired need, and now the demand for the healthy foods will increase with much high percent as it enhances the immunity of an individual. The immunity enhancement during the pandemic is much more needed, hence it has seen that eating habits of consumers are getting changed and they are now more inclined towards the healthy food products. It has also been estimated that consumer preference for the fruit intake has increased by 58.0%, protein intake by 37.0% and many others. Increasing awareness regarding immunity building by consuming healthy food has increased the demand for the products and now consumers want to increase their health in order to boost their immunity and reduce vulnerability to disease and illness.

Further, also the demand will increase in the future as consumers have now more aware that how much healthy food is important to fight with various diseases and this will be of help for the health food sector to grow at very high rate in the market in upcoming future.

VITAMINS IN FOOD, BEVERAGE AND SUPPLEMENT INDUSTRY: PERSPECTIVE AND INITIATIVES

The COVID-19 pandemic have drastically changed the food consumption pattern of the living being, which is counted as 8 out 10 people and have changed their ways of eating habits and have incorporated nutritional enriched food products in their day to day life.  For instance, According to the International Food Information Council’s (IFIC) 2020 Food and Health Survey, 85% of Americans made changes in the food they eat or how they prepare food because in the time of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.  

The burst of pandemic panic complements a steady rise in the healthy food consumption and their sales that investors have largely overlooked amid the financial debacles of better-known food incorporated with vitamins and minerals, fish oil and probiotics among others.

For instance,

“'The COVID-19 Product Tracker helps us understand the needs of people about food throughout those hard times. This expertise has helped in informing the work of Ministerial Vulnerability Task Force, which will continue to do so.

 I want to thank the voluntary sector and the local authorities, who are working hard to identify a number of routes for UK governments to tackle. We are going to continue to play our part in fighting this global pandemic and ensuring that there is safe food.”

  • Heather Hancock, Chairman (Food Standards Agency)

 “Romania’s agricultural producers have been threatened by market shocks, supply chains and exports, thus facing increased uncertainty going into the season of harvesting in 2020. Making available additional farm funding will help farmers resolve these obstacles, benefiting rural communities and critical industries through and beyond the COVID-19 era.”

  • Mark Davis, Regional Director (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development)

 “They will continue to foster European unity to recover from the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Along with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank, the Commission is proud to endorse this financing arrangement with Agricover Credit, which aims to protect Romanian farmers.”

  • Paolo Gentiloni, European Commissioner (European Investment Bank (EIB)).

 “There’s a growing demand from governments to tackle the issue of obesity and a consumer trend towards healthier products. Sugar taxes, like the Soft Drinks Industry Levy in the UK, are being implemented around the world and it’s likely other measures will follow. Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic is also showing that people with obesity linked conditions are more likely to super serious complications. Health is emerging as a key investment risk,”

  • Mais Callan, Senior Responsible Investment Manager (Nestle)

“Consumers today demand healthier food options, including healthier snacks. This can range from snacks without artificial additives and preservatives or with less sodium or salt, non-fried or baked snacks or use of healthier ingredients like wholegrain.”

  • Olive Bai, Marketing Manager Of Savory Snacks (Kerry APMEA)

 “Consumers are also becoming more health conscious in general and the pandemic prompted even more to be aware of their health and lifestyles, Apart from learning and increasingly preparing their own meals at home, the growing availability of healthy snacks, organic and low-fat food options is also something appreciated by consumers.”

  • Freshippo CEO (Alibaba Group)

 “If you look at functional foods, there is a trend towards increasing nutrient density in foods which are already considered healthy, Especially in Asia; the customers want to come out with new line extensions. Innovation will remain a focus for many customers as they are looking to come out ahead in the marketplace,”

  • Anand Sundaresan, Regional VP Human Nutrition & Health APAC (DSM)

“Companies were mostly clearing their warehouse stocks, instead of investing in capacity building to meet the heightened demand for plant extracts, especially those that confer immune benefits. Even if the demand is big, the factories are not willing to increase their investments for capacity building. This means that production capacity will not see a significant increase,”

“At least 20% to 30% of the orders received across the member companies cannot be filled due to supply chain problems, and so many of us are getting for a slot to ship out our products,”

  • Yinjun Hou, The Chairman (Shaanxi Plant Extract Association)

Conclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on the global economy and population. A joint campaign to combat the coronavirus on states, departments of public health, and hospital community have contributed to economic slowdowns, regional lockdowns, and drastic public safety measures. Public health initiatives include raising awareness about calculating home quarantine, preserving food and healthcare supplies, and governments around the world are following strictly, especially to the poor. With rising customer understanding of immunity-boosting to avoid COVID-19 prevalence is driving the safe food industry market. In addition, taking into account consumer demand manufacturers claim their products as healthy with various ingredients added for boosting immunity. The delay caused by the impact on the logistics industry, however, indicates a decreased supply of raw materials and thus there is a restricted supply of such goods on the market that limits this business. Consumers have become more aware of home-grown food and are also searching for healthier alternatives, driving the organic food market. It is projected that due to the growing prevalence of COVID-19 and consumer awareness to improve the immunity with no additional supplements would expand the healthy food market in the coming years.