By LIZA ILARDEA health food and ingredient exhibition in Thailand is the proof of this
MANILA, Philippines — Despite today's medical breakthroughs and technological advancements, some still instinctively reach for herbal teas, bee pollen or virgin coconut oil at the first sign of a migraine, an itchy throat or indigestion. Just like fashion, where trendsetters in the know have been going back to handcrafted items or organic fabrics, the same can be said for health, wellness and beauty. The school of thought is that most medication is filled with or made of chemicals that, when ingested on a regular basis, can actually work against what they were originally supposed to cure. The same can apply to beauty products—skin care, hair care, cosmetics, even baby care—the ingredients of which can be so harsh, they're actually bad for the skin, hair and baby. So in recent years, many concerned individuals have gone back to the way our ancestors treated anything and everything—naturally.
It was with this premise in mind that Health Food Ingredients Thailand (HFIT) was organized. Launched last year, it was the ASEAN's first international event focusing on health food and ingredients meant to serve consumers' growing consciousness of leading a healthy lifestyle. It also offered excellent business opportunities to ASEAN member states, which include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, and, of course, Thailand. This year, it will be held in Bangkok from March 29 to April 1, 2012.
With its strong focus on the spa industry, it's no wonder that Thailand has taken the initiative when it comes to all things geared towards health and wellness. According to Napawan Songprasertkul, managing director of Food Industry Network Co Ltd, "The wellness industry clusters were worth US$1.9 trillion in 2010 as revealed by the last comprehensive research on this sector conducted by SRI International." And this sector comprises the following economic areas—spa; complementary and alternative medicine; healthy eating, nutrition, and weight loss; preventive and personalized health; medical tourism; wellness tourism; workplace wellness; fitness and mind-body; and beauty and anti-aging—which can all benefit from attending and participating in this trade fair.
"The global organic food market is forecasted to reach the US$60 billion mark in 2011, while the nutraceutical market is estimated to hit US$151 billion in the same year," continued Ms. Songprasertkul at a press conference held in Bangkok last January. And since food composes up to 50% of the Asian consumer's expenditures, the exhibition will be an excellent opportunity to tap this market.
Health is also an important category when it comes to the subject of natural and organic ingredients. Lito Abelarde, chairman of the Chamber of Herbal Industries of the Philippines, Inc. and former chairman of the ASEAN Alliance of Traditional Medicine Industries, was present during the press conference and confirmed that "the present worldwide market size for traditional medicine and natural dietary-supplement products for health and wellness has been estimated by the Stanford Research Institute at about US$3 trillion—and this is growing further by leaps and bounds.
"However, there is no reliable data as to the present market size in the ASEAN region," he continued. "But judging from the increase in the number of business companies in this region as indicated by the growth of membership in national associations of companies engaged in natural health products, it is obvious that the market size in the ASEAN region has grown tremendously and continues to expand." He cited as an example the membership of the Chamber of Herbal Industries in the Philippines (CHIPI): "It has grown from just 11 companies in 2000 to over 85 as of the end of 2011, with more applicants waiting." He even pointed out that some of these applicants are actually subsidiaries of well-known pharmaceutical companies. “And these big companies are known to oppose natural health products. [Obviously, now they] can no longer ignore the worldwide shift of consumer preference for natural health and wellness products, and are now starting to jump on the unstoppable bandwagon of natural traditional medicine and dietary supplements for health, wellness and beauty products. [They realize that] people around the world are simply no longer willing to leave their health solely to doctors and synthetic pharmaceutical products."
The beauty industry is the same. Internationally recognized companies, famous for their branded skin care and cosmetics, have also acknowledged this shift. Adhering to standards set by different countries when it comes to ingredient lists, many of them have added product lines that carry the labels "natural" or "organic". But how much is truly natural or organic? To address this concern, the HFIT this year decided to include an additional exhibition of natural and organic beauty, fitness and wellness products called BioBeauty & BioFit 2012. With ASEAN countries being rich in flora and fauna, many of its peoples have used these natural resources for centuries for total beauty care. Ms. Songprasertkul emphasized, though, that its focus will be "on anti-aging and whitening, herbal medicine and drinks, weight management, and aromatherapy. We are confident that these specific areas drive the growth of the whole natural cosmetics industry," she added.
As Nuning Barwa, president of the Indonesia Cosmetic Association, reminded us during her talk, "Indonesia is famous for spa and beauty treatments such as lulur, mangir, ratus, and boreh, which all use natural ingredients found in our country. And we have been doing this for centuries, before we were ever familiar with any chemical ingredients." And now we are all going back to everything natural.
The Health Food Ingredients Thailand (HFIT) 2012 and BioBeauty & BioFit 2012 will be held from March 29-April 1, 2012 at the Impact Arena, Exhibition and Convention Center in Bangkok, Thailand. For more information and for those interested in exhibiting products, please visit www.hfitexpo.com,www.biobeautyshow.com.
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