Exploration of the Current Development and Future Trends of Functional Foods

Abstract

Functional food is a health driven industry that deeply couples nutrition science and food engineering technology. Its essence is the product of the integration and symbiosis of technological achievements in two major fields, and the development volume and innovation level have become the core standards for measuring the food industry's breakthroughs in traditional constraints and the realization of transformation and upgrading. The global functional food market is showing a steady expansion trend. In 2024, its volume will reach 1088.61 billion yuan, and it is expected to exceed 1.46091 trillion yuan by 2030, with a stable compound annual growth rate of 5.02%. China has performed outstandingly in the global market. In 2023, its market volume will reach 352.3 billion yuan, with an average annual compound growth rate of 6% from 2016 to 2023. It is expected to exceed 485.8 billion yuan in 2029. This article systematically reviews the global functional food market pattern and the characteristics of China's industrial development, deeply analyzes core driving factors such as technological innovation, raw material breakthroughs, and consumer demand, clarifies the evolution logic of the policy and regulatory system, focuses on exploring future development trends such as personalized nutrition and preventive health, and combines the industrialization practices of enterprises such as Yihai Kerry and Feihe to propose countermeasures and suggestions for high-quality industry development, providing theoretical reference for industrial upgrading and policy optimization.