Lactose Market Trends

Growth Drivers

• Rising Awareness About the Benefits of Consuming Lactose - Lactose is a sugar present in milk that provides energy as well as a number of other health benefits. Now people are getting more aware regarding the benefits of lactose and adding the required amount of lactose in their food or dietary supplements. For instance, lactose has a number of nutritional advantages that other sugar sources do not have. It provides a sustained energy supply in the body owing to slow hydrolysis, increases mineral absorption such as calcium, magnesium, and zinc, and adds value to a healthy intestinal flora by stimulating the growth of beneficial intestinal bacteria such as bifidobacteria and lactobacilli.
• Growing Consumption of Dietary supplements – As per a survey, in mainland China, approximately 58% of people consumed dietary supplements as of March 2022.
• Escalating Growth in Pharmaceutical Industry – For instance, the valuation of pharmaceutical industry in the United States was reached around USD 2.5 trillion as of November 2021, whereas the value in China was around USD 842 billion.
• Growing Skincare Industry - Globally, the skincare industry has reached nearly USD 163 billion by the first half of 2022.
• Rising Expenditure in Research and Development – As per the World Bank, globally, the research and development expenditure increased significantly between 2018 and 2020, rising from 2.2% of GDP in 2018 to 2.63% of GDP in 2020.

Challenges

• Surge in Lactose Intolerance Cases - The increasing number of lactose-intolerant persons affects the demand for lactose-based products as several people are unable to digest lactose-based products, which cause a variety of disorders such as diarrhea, bloating, and others. For instance, approximately 68% of people worldwide are lactose intolerant.
• High Cost of Refined Edible Grade Lactose
• Convenient Access to The Alternative Sources of Lactose