Chicory Market by Product Type (Extracts, Roasted, Instant Powder, Flour), Form (Powder, Cubes, Liquid), Plant Part, Application (Food & Beverage, Dietary Supplement, Feed & Pet food, Cosmetics & Personal Care), and Region - Global Forecast to 2025

Northbrook, IL -- (SBWire) -- 04/26/2021 --The global chicory market size is estimated to be valued at USD 685 million in 2020 and is projected to reach USD 905 million by 2025, recording a CAGR of 5.7%. The millennials prefer consuming these food and beverage that offer health benefits and are organic in nature, due to factors such as busier lifestyles, rising disposal incomes, growing awareness regarding preventive healthcare measures, and maintaining better health. Other factors driving the demand for these chicory include the growing applications of chicory, specially in cosmetic & personal care industry in developing and underdeveloped countries, owing to its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidants properties.

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COVID-19 Analysis:

Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the consumption of ready-to-mix and ready-to-drink beverages has witnessed a substantial increase. This largely includes drinks such as coffee, juices, and flavored milks. Due to the lockdowns and curfews imposed by various regional and national governments, the work-from-home culture experienced a boost. Due to the increased work-life stress and busier lifestyles, the population across the globe started increasingly consuming coffee in order to have increased concentration and focus on work.

To cater to this growing demand, the coffee manufacturers boosted/enhanced their production capabilities and volumes. Owing to this, the consumption of chicory has increased simultaneously, as it is used as a blend in the majority of the ready-to-mix and ready-to-drink coffee products. As it is a caffeine-free, healthier, and low-cost substitute to coffee, manufacturers have largely started including it in the coffee processing process. Consumers are also leaning toward chicory blends to minimize health risks associated with caffeine. Thus, the pandemic has bolstered the growth prospects for chicory, not only being a cheaper substitute for coffee, but also due to its health benefits offerings.

Market Dynamics:

Drivers: Preference for chicory as a cheaper substitute for coffee

Chicory is currently ten times cheaper than coffee. Coffee is one of the premium food products. The prices of coffee powder have further increased due to an increase in global prices, making it impossible for companies to absorb the higher cost of raw material. Coffee companies are now blending in chicory to protect their margin. Large coffee companies that hold a couple of bestselling brands have increased their chicory content in their branded sachets to 49% from 30%. Direct consumer products made from chicory, such as the roasted chicory powder that is an absolute coffee substitute, are also very cheap; therefore, people now prefer more chicory because of its lower price, accompanied by significant health benefits and also is caffeine-free.

Restraints: High dependency on mainstream products such as coffee

Chicory, though popularly known to be a caffeine-free substitute to coffee, does not offer the same organoleptic characteristics. The dark coffee flavor and aroma are unique to the coffee bean. Chicory coffee, on the other hand, has a slightly woody bitter taste with a nutty, and sometimes, herbal flavor. Some roasts of chicory even have traces of slightly tart fruits such as cherries. Coffee is enjoyed for many reasons by people across the globe for its flavor, ritual, memories, emotion, and of course, the stimulation it delivers.

Most coffee enthusiasts find it difficult to replace coffee with any other beverage. The coffee and tea industries witness the easy availability of raw materials and cheaper products from the local and regional players. All these factors restrain the growth of the chicory product market across the world as their substitute.

Opportunities: Growth in applications of chicory across various industries

A variety of trends have driven the use of chicory root fiber not only in food & beverage applications but also in other areas like in dietary supplements, pet food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries. In the food and beverage industry, one of the present significant trends is in sugar reduction. Chicory root fiber can assist with sugar reduction by helping with flavor and texture. Chicory leaves and roots have been used for salads and in the preparation of various innovative and tasty recipes. Chicory is a nutritional powerhouse, containing vitamin K, A, C, and a long list of the B group vitamins. It is an excellent source of minerals like manganese, copper, iron, and potassium. The roots of chicory contain inulin fiber, a type of prebiotic that promotes the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut; this is used widely as a dietary supplement.

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Challenges: Higher technical expertise required for producing certain chicory-based products

The chicory root is used to produce many varieties of chicory products; hence, a lot of expertise is required to extract each product one after the other while processing. For manufacturing chicory inulin, hydrolysates, and derivatives of inulin by conventional manufacturing techniques from roots of chicory, they are required to be grown in appropriate regions and also have to be processed under proper climatological temperature conditions. Selection of said proper conditions enables to provide a growing and/or processing period for the chicory roots, which may partly or wholly extend beyond the conventional periods.

The preparation of instant chicory coffee requires a high amount of energy and is a continuous ongoing process. Temperature conditions are the most vital factor for chicory production. If the production by any chance suddenly gets interrupted, the entire mass of chicory solidifies inside the processing units causing huge damage to the machinery and a large amount of material gets wasted; this caused companies to incur huge amounts of losses.

Key Market Players:

Cosucra Groupe Warcoing (Belgium), Delecto Foods Pvt Ltd (India), BENEO GmbH (Germany), Sensus (Netherlands), Leroux (France), Cargill Incorporated (US), Reily Foods Company (US), Pioneer Chicory (India), PMV Nutrient Products Pvt Ltd (India), Farmvilla Food Industries Pvt Ltd (India), Murlikrishna Foods Pvt Ltd (India), Starwest Botanicals (US), STOKROS Company Ltd (Russia), Nature's Gold Production (Netherlands), Organic Herb Trading Co (UK), Narasu's Coffee Company (India), NP Nutra (US), Shaanxi Sciphar Natural Product Co Ltd. (China), Jamnagar Chicory Industries (India), and Herbs & Crops Overseas (India).