China Health Food Industry Report, 2014-2017

With the development of China’s economy, health foods, which have special functions of adjusting human body physiology, preventing diseases, promoting health, prolonging life, etc., have won great popularity with a variety of specific populations. In 2013, the market size of health food in China reached RMB187.4 billion, up 12.0% year on year, recording a CAGR of 22.1% during 2006-2013.

China's health product industry is composed of many extremely scattered segments, which develop simultaneously, mainly referring to vitamin & dietary supplements, functional food, and traditional products, of which Vitamin & Dietary Supplements generated RMB83.7 billion in retail sales in 2013, accounting for 59.3% of the whole industry.

In terms of competitive landscape, direct selling brands such as Amway, Perfect, and other foreign brands still occupy a 74% share in vitamin & dietary supplements market while the remaining 26% share is dominated by the non-direct selling brands like BY-HEALTH. The number of functional health food enterprises is close to 2,000, represented by Red Bull, Jing brand and Besunyen, which took the leading position in functional drinks, health care wine and slimming tea products, respectively. Additionally, in the field of traditional health foods, there are numerous small and medium-sized herb nourishing food producers, among which the typical ones include Wanji, a ginseng products manufacturer, Joincare, a producer of oral solution for beauty, as well as Shandong Dong-e E-Jiao Group, a leader in donkey-hide gelatin market.