Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food Market

Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food Market Research Analysis 2022 - 2027:

Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food Market was at USD 342.8 million in 2018. The market is further estimated to experience reasonable growth to record a CAGR of 10.29% throughout the outlook period of 2022 - 2027.

Ready-to-use therapeutic foods are revolutionizing the home treatment of severe acute malnutrition in children. These foods ensure rapid weight gain in severely malnourished children and can be used safely at home without medical supervision. Ready-to-use therapeutic foods are based on skim milk, peanut butter, oil, sugar, and other vitamins and minerals that provide enough nutritional support for children to recover more quickly and fully. The ready-to-use therapeutic food does not need to be mixed with water, so it is safe to use in remote places where there is contaminated water. Ready-to-use therapeutic foods are available in the marketplace in various formats such as powder, drinkable liquid, and semi-solid paste.

REPORT COVERAGE:

Recent Developments

1. In February 2020, Ariel Foods FZE has inaugurated its RUTF factory in Lagos. The ATLC factory will produce ready-to-use therapeutic food, an UN-recommended product used to combat severe acute malnutrition.
2. In May 2017, Insta Products EPZ Limited, in association with the Nutrition and Dietetics Unit of the Ministry of Health and UNICEF, partnered with KEMSA to distribute ready-to-use therapeutic food (RTAF) in countries facing high incidence of malnutrition.

Market Drivers and Restraints:

Increasing government and NGO initiatives regarding the treatment of malnutrition are expected to foster the growth of the market for ready-to-use therapeutic foods. For example, the Initiative to End Child Malnutrition (IECM) was established as a collaboration between the Division of Global Health and Human Rights (GHHR), the Harvard College Global Hunger Initiative (GHI) and the Karoli Lwanga Nyakibale Hospital in Rukungiri District, Uganda. This was transferred to local communities in Uganda in December 2014. Therefore, the increase in these initiatives is supposed to drive the growth of the global ready-to-use therapeutic food market. Increasing focus of the UNICEF to encourage local makers is anticipated to offer lucrative growth opportunities in the ready-to-use therapeutic food market. The growing willingness of the manufacturer to expand ATLC's production facilities to meet the rising need for this feed is anticipated to drive market growth over the outlook period. Additionally, local governments are also taking the initiative to encourage local ATLC production, which should create even more opportunities for local manufacturers to enter the market. For example, in August 2016, following a continued increase in the number of malnourished children in Nigeria, the Sokoto state government announced that it would start producing RTAs locally. The increasing government shift to local ingredients is predicted to hamper the target market growth. UNICEF's standard formula for ATLC contains ingredients such as powdered milk, peanuts, oils, vitamins and minerals and, in most areas, peanuts and powdered milk are not profitable in all regions. Therefore, manufacturers and local governments prefer profitable substitutes for peanuts and powdered milk to produce RTAs. This factor is expected to slow the growth of the ready-to-use therapeutic food market in futureee.

Market Segmentation:

Depending on the product type, the global ready-to-use therapeutic food market is segregated mainly into solid, semi-solid and drinkable liquids. Solid RTAs are available in powder, cookie and chocolate bar forms, which can be eaten straight from the envelope or even mixed with drinking water to consume as a porridge. Due to the constant demand for strong products, the market is likely to experience many product innovations leading to rapid market growth. The semi-solid segment is foreseen to remain the dominant segment throughout the evaluation period and will likely thrive at an impressive CAGR of more than 10%. Ready-to-use drinkable therapeutic foods are beverages fortified with vitamins and minerals specifically to treat SAMe. Following UNICEF's focus on ramping up the purchase of drinkable ATLCs recently announced, the beverage ATLC is expected to experience solid growth through 2026.

Impact of COVID-19 on Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food Market

The coronavirus pandemic has increased the risk of acute malnutrition among the poorest segments of society. In the face of government-imposed closures, millions of people have become unemployed, especially in the agricultural sector, disrupting essential programs to improve nutrition. The impact has been particularly dramatic on the developing and underdeveloped worlds. There is concern that severely malnourished children are at dangerously high risk of contracting the new coronavirus due to weakened immunity. The same is true of the geriatric population. Therefore, companies are adopting different various provisions to make sure that the supply chain of these ready-to-use therapeutic foods is uninterrupted. As a result, sales have been widely supported during the pandemic and are expected to continue to be so in the future.

Regional Analysis:

The global Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food market has been categorized based on geography into the regions of North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa. Based on the analysis, Europe and MEA are likely to remain as the key markets, while North America is expected to prosper at a healthy double-digit growth rate during the envisioned period. Regional players in the European market are the main contributors to the UNICEF and other leading organizations. The top manufacturing facilities are sophisticated enough and are currently being expanded. With this in mind, Europe is estimated to have strong production and income generation and therefore healthy growth. Local authorities in the MEA are increasing the budget to treat malnutrition, while regional governments are working to establish manufacturing facilities. However, as a result, MEA's contribution to revenue will be relatively higher during the outlook period. At APAC, the implementation of CAMAM in Asian countries is driving demand. APAC and MEA are determined to grow vigorously, due to the increased number of opportunities through 2026.

Leading Company:

GC Rieber Compact AS had the largest share of the Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food Market in terms of sales and revenue in 2018.

Major Key Players Covered in the market report are:

Key players in the Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food Market include Tabatchnik Fine Foods, GC Rieber Compact AS, Power Foods Tanzania, NutriVita Foods, Nutriset SAS, Mana Nutritive Aid Products, Insta Products, InnoFaso, Hilina, Edesia USA, and Diva Nutritional Products.