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Seafood Vs. Functional Foods Vs. Supplements: How do Europeans Get Their Omega-3s?

The market for omega-3s around the globe has been growing rapidly with continued growth in the 10% range predicted for the next 3-4 years. While Europe is a more mature market, growth in 2011 was still a respectable 6% and varied product offerings and EPA/DHA ratios help keep the market dynamic. Users of omega-3s in […]

The market for omega-3s around the globe has been growing rapidly with continued growth in the 10% range predicted for the next 3-4 years. While Europe is a more mature market, growth in 2011 was still a respectable 6% and varied product offerings and EPA/DHA ratios help keep the market dynamic.

Users of omega-3s in Europe can be divided into those who choose to increase their intake of seafood; those who take an omega-3 supplement product; and those who eat a food fortified with omega-3s such as an omega-3 enriched bread or fortified beverage or yogurt. GOED has undertaken a series of consumer surveys on the omega-3 user and has learned something about preferences in various European countries. GOED has completed research in the UK, France and Germany (as well as Russia, China, the US, Brazil, Australia and Japan, with plans to research Spain and Italy in the near future).

In terms of overall usage rates, as seen in the graph below, the large yellow number represents overall combined usage in that country (including supplements, fortified foods and seafood). The blue circles represent seafood eaters; the green circles consumers of fortified foods; and the red circles those who use omega-3 supplements.

The message here is that usage patterns vary significantly from country to country. In France, for example, supplement usage is very low at only 10% of intake. In Germany, a similar situation is seen with supplements making up only 15% of usage, yet overall German usage is more than 10% higher than France, at 63% compared to 49%. In the UK, supplement usage is equal to functional food usage at 27%, trailing seafood consumption by only a 4% margin.

In less mature omega-3 markets such as Russia and Brazil, omega-3 intake is quite high, but largely driven by consumption of seafood. This is not surprising, given that fish is part of normal food intake rather than requiring the acceptance of a “new” item like a fortified food or a supplement.

Interestingly, GOED’s data also shows that in the UK, Germany and France, if you eat oily fish or take a multivitamin, you are more likely to also take an omega-3 supplement.

GOED’s research also examined health priorities among omega-3 users and non-users, and our data shows differences in countries here as well. When comparing France, Germany, Russia and the UK, consumers in France who said they were concerned about “overall health” were more likely to take omega-3s. Likewise, “brain health” as a concern ranked higher among the French as well, although Germany came in second. In Germany, consumers who are concerned about “energy” and not having enough to get them through the day are more likely to consume omega-3s, while “heart health” was by far the main concern among those in the UK and also ranked high in all four regions.

Figure 2: Users who are more likely to consume omega-3s based on these health concerns