Malaysia - Nutritional and Food SupplementsMalaysia - Nutritional & Food
Overview
Public healthcare is heavily subsidized in Malaysia. With increasing healthcare cost, public hospitals are getting oversubscribed and overburdened. The Malaysian government places great importance into the health and wellbeing of its citizens and has allocated a large amount of its national budget for the healthcare sector. In 2017, the Ministry of Health’s allocation of the national budget was 9.4 percent. In 2018, the government set aside approximately US$6.75 billion or 10.4 percent of the annual national budget for public healthcare. Approximately US$1 billion is set aside for consumables, including supplies and pharmaceuticals.
Often times, the upper-middle and high income portion of the Malaysian population prefer to use private healthcare provides, as the services are usually faster and higher quality of care. The upper-middle and higher income segment are generally more educated and have a tendency to take charge of their own health. To them, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound a cure. As a result, nutritional and food supplements are seen as a means to maintain and increase overall wellbeing. Nutritional and food supplements include vitamins, minerals, herbs, meal supplements, sports nutrition products, natural food supplements, and other related products used to boost the nutritional content of the diet. In 2017, China was the largest exporter of nutritional and food supplements to Malaysia holding 26.1 percent market share. The next largest sources of nutritional and food supplments were: Switzerland (23 percent); Thailand (14.7 percent); Germany 7.1 percent) and the United States ranked fifth with 5.7 percent of the market share. U.S. brands are both trusted and well received by the Malaysian consumers with the caveat that U.S. companies must be cognizant of Malaysia’s price sensitivities.
Direct selling companies are major importers of health supplements in Malaysia. They generally private label the supplements. Certified organic and natural health supplement is a niche and growing market. High-end proprietary U.S. brands would do well in the specialized healthcare or organic stores. Cholesterol lowering products, cardiovascular and cancer preventives, and supplements that are beneficial to diabetics would be well received by the marketplace. Given that majority of the Malaysian population is Muslim, halal/vegetarian supplements are highly recommended.
Nutritional Supplements
Note that this table does not include any values attributed to trade of services.
|
Unit: $US (‘000) |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
CAGR |
|
Total Exports |
16,203 |
12,924 |
15,974 |
-0.7% |
|
Total Imports |
22,312 |
28,188 |
37,920 |
30.4% |
|
Imports from the US |
1,447 |
1,629 |
1,847 |
13.0% |
|
Malaysian Exports to the US |
51 |
59 |
6 |
-65.7% |
|
Exchange Rates |
4.12 |
4.0 |
4.15 |
|
Source: Department of Statistics Malaysia
Leading Sub-Sectors
Malaysia’s nutritional and food supplement consumption is mainly met by imports. This comes either in the form of finished goods or raw materials for local assembly. Often times, local importers collaborate with foreign manufacturers to acquire private labeled products.
Increasingly, local importers work with foreign supplements manufacturers and come up with their own formulation. Some source raw materials and manufacture their own supplements.
According to the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) of Malaysia, one-third of the Malaysian manufacturers have Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) licenses to produce modern medicines comprising analgesics, antacids, anti-hypertensive, diuretics, antibiotics and anti-histamines. Two-thirds are licensed to produce local traditional and herbal medicines, including food supplements. The remaning are for vetrinary supplement manufacturers.
Opportunities
Malaysia is ranked sixth in the Asia Pacific region and the top country within Southeast Asia for both obesity and diabetes. Obesity and diabetes have been coonected to serious Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease and hypertension. Therefore, consumers in Malaysia are increasingly aware of such potential health issues associated with eating habits and have become more proactive in searching for consumer health products to prevent such chronic diseases. The increase in consumption of health supplements can be tied to the greater awareness of health issues and the availability of more disposal income. A wide range of health supplements are readily available in the market, including products for joint health, digestive health, heart and circulation, stress and energy, eye health, multivitamins and antioxidants, weight management, detox and wellness products for the elderly.
In particular, natural and organic supplements, and sports nutrition are gaining popularity. Joint-support care, fish oils, heart-care, cholesterol lowering supplements, CoQ10, Gingko, collagen supplements, detoxification preparations and dietary supplements, male health supplements are some of the market best sellers. Market perceptions of a combination of two or more types of natural supplement ingredients are better than single type supplements. Natural slimming and fat burning, and skin and hair strenghtening food supplements are also in high demand.
Web Resources