‘Pills’ surprised even health checkup doctors… ‘5 trillion market’ enthusiasm for teens and seniors

As soon as I wake up in the morning, I take 1 tablet of probiotics (lactic acid bacteria), blood pressure medicine, and cholesterol medicine on an empty stomach. During breakfast, I eat 3 tablets of Korea Eundan Vitamin C 1000 mg, and also take milk thistle and lutein. Here, I eat up to 10 krill oil and brewer’s yeast and go to work. At lunch and dinner, 3 vitamins, 10 brewer’s yeast, and 1 vitamin are taken before bed to fill 10,000 mg of vitamin C a day.

This is the’nutritional diet’ that Kim Mo (44, male), a Korean mid-sized company, keeps it every day. Mr. Kim said, “I was shocked by the results of the health checkup last August, and with the recommendation of an acquaintance, I started the’Vitamin C megadose (overdose) therapy’.” As a habit, I do one hour of fast walking and 100 push-ups and squats, but I do not manage my diet separately. What is the result?
“I had a re-examination this January, and all the numbers improved ridiculously. The doctor said,’This isn’t just because of exercise, but I asked if I did anything special. No matter what others say, I will continue to eat like this.”

The health functional food (dry food) market is booming. Although there has always been an interest in health, consumers are actively searching for the’hottest’ products, and this information is repeatedly spreading in various online spaces, leading the trend. The dry season has become a part of life like eating, exercising, and traveling.

The dry season is a trend of popularizing regardless of age or gender. In a survey conducted last year by market research firm Embrain, 84.5% of 1,000 respondents answered that they are “taking a dry diet.” By age, people in their 40s and 50s were the highest with over 90%, but 70-80% of those in their 20s and 30s and 67.8% of their teens were eating dry food. The Korea Health Functional Food Association predicts that the domestic dry food market, which reached 5 trillion won (4.980.5 trillion won) last year, will grow to 25 trillion won by 2030.

Ji-Woo Baek in his 30s said, “If you gather after Corona,’Only immunity will live.’ If you spend money on dry food rather than buying clothes or bags, you feel like you are investing in me, so you don’t feel guilty even if you spend the same money.” He said, “I have set a goal to eat dry food every day by installing an app called’Challengers’ with my friends. It motivates me.”

In the case of Olive Young, a health & beauty store, purchases of dry food products in their 20s and 30s last year increased by 32% compared to the previous year. An Olive Young official said, “In the past, red ginseng and lactic acid bacteria represented dry season, but with the influx of young people, various products by function such as collagen, hyaluronic acid, multivitamin, and diet are gaining popularity.” “Young people consider their health as self-management, and they open their wallets generously even if the price is high,” he said. “By 2023, we plan to more than double the sales of dry foods.”

What’s interesting is the pace and manner of fashion. ‘Red ginseng, probiotics, and vitamins’ have been dominated by’red ginseng, probiotics, and vitamins’ for several years as the top 3 popular dry foods compiled by the Dry Foods Association, but as new products (ingredients) constantly appear, the number of dry foods registered by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety was 12,499 in 2012. In 2019, it doubled to 26,342.

For example, recently, arginine is said to be good for blood circulation,’Osomol Immun (highly concentrated liquid vitamin)’ called’Vitamin Hermes’,’Phytonutri’, which is said to help induce sleep with Ecklonia extract,’Hemohim’, which is good for immunity, and brewer’s yeast. There are many talks such as’Biorabo Beer Hefe’.

Kim Min-soo, senior product planner of the health food team at Lotte Home Shopping said, “There are steady sellers such as red ginseng and vitamins, but the market is said to have popped up and broken the hottest products such as noni, cissus, krill oil in 2019, and protein (protein) and tart cherry in 2020.” “The new year’s functional collagen and other skin-related products are gaining popularity,” he said.

In the dry season epidemic, influencers who are active online show considerable power. According to an actual consumer data company Open Survey, nearly half of the respondents (47.9%) said they bought dry food at online and mobile shopping malls last year. This figure soared to 82.2% in the 30s. In addition, the most trusted dry season information channels were ▶ Internet search (29%) ▶ Family, friends, acquaintances (26.7%) ▶ Internet cafes and communities (6.9%) ▶ Video platforms (4.2%). As the number of Internet purchases increases, the influence of influencers inevitably increases.

A (40s), the representative of a fashion promotion agency, said, “Influencers have more personal communication through their channels than celebrity models, so they often ask and answer a lot of nutritional supplements and dry season questions. Not long ago, I was doing a labang (live commerce broadcast) that sells clothes, and there were a lot of questions about’what do you eat with my sister’s nutritional supplement?’

Seulgi Eom (35, female) also said, “I ate enzymes while following Instagram’s influencer. Even if I’m not a medical expert, I steadily uploaded that the person had tried it and improved it, and explained in a way that touched me through the experiment. He said, “I lost faith because I did it.”
Mr. A said, “The dry season has become an area of ​​word of mouth and trends. It’s an item that I want to buy when I think that only people I know know, and only I know,” he said. “Influencers do not say’I went to Seoul National University because I was faithful to textbooks’, but’I took care of this and that and I became pretty’, so I feel more authentic.” He explained.

As the demand for consumers to find better ingredients and products that suits me grows, the industry also jumped into the’personalized’ dry food market. It is a service that allows consumers to make their own dry meals according to their lifestyles and nutritional status, just as they put their favorite food in a buffet.

Pulmuone Health & Life introduced’Perpack’, a dry-type subdivision service, early in July of last year, and Amway Korea also launched’Mypack by Nutrilite’ in a similar form this year. Dongwon F&B expanded the test items for consumer genetic testing services from 14 to 50 in order to reinforce the customized competitiveness of GNC, a dry-type brand. As for the distribution company, E-Mart set up a customized dry-type store in the store in December of last year, and Lotte Mart is considering entering the related market by applying for a trademark titled’Viva Health Market’ last month.

Baek-jun Kang, head of Amway Korea’s public relations team, said, “With Corona 19, interest in dry food is being subdivided and specialized into eyes, hair, skin, intestines, bones, etc., as well as immunity. It will expand significantly, taking the direction to reflect the consumer preferences as much as possible if they are accumulated.”

Experts acknowledged the need for dry food, but pointed out that misuse and abuse could be a problem. It is said that it is better to consume vitamins and minerals at a level that fills the nutrients that are insufficient only by eating food.

Pharmacist Jang Ji-na, co-president of’A-Yak (a pharmacist who knows)’, who operates an online dosage management platform, said, “Dry foods that Koreans are good for their bodies are often difficult to obtain and eat from abroad. Unlike drugs, side effects are small, but if you have a disease, you must check whether there will be any problems with taking certain drugs.”

The most important thing is also the correct dosage. O Beom-jo, a professor of family medicine at Boramae Hospital, Seoul, said, “The absorption rate of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K decreases when eaten on an empty stomach, so it is better to take it during meals, and if you take water-soluble vitamins B and C immediately after a meal, The metabolism of ingested nutrients can be smoothed and the effect can be increased.”

As with food, the nutritional system has separate ingredients that help each other. According to Professor Oh, when vitamin C is eaten with vitamin E, it is quickly absorbed into the body and its antioxidant effect is enhanced. In addition, calcium absorption rate is significantly improved when eaten with vitamin D. On the other hand, iron and calcium interfere with each other’s absorption, so it is better to eat at least 1 hour apart.

Kang Jae-hun, a professor of family medicine at Kangbuk Samsung, said, “I agree that the majority of scholars supplement with a dry diet when it is difficult to get enough vitamins.” But rather than being deceived by the advertisements or the words of influencers, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has recognized it as a dry diet. I recommend that you check whether it is a product.”

Reporters Soah Lee, Jeongwon Bae, Jiyeon Yoo [email protected]