Global Prebiotics Week 2024: Powering the microbiome

The health and nutrition industry continues to evolve at remarkable speed, and certain categories are emerging as clear front-runners in product development. Perhaps none more so than prebiotics, which are rapidly transitioning from an emerging ingredient group to a mainstream proposition that speaks directly to today’s proactive health audience.

Global Prebiotics Week 2024, taking place 3-9 November, comes at a fascinating time for the category. Scientific understanding of the gut microbiome is advancing, revealing more about how beneficial bacteria influence non-digestive areas of health ranging from immunity to cognition, and beyond.

Simultaneously, consumers are getting better connected with matters of health and are actively seeking ways to support better everyday wellness through the gut microbiome. As a result, prebiotics remain high on the formulation agenda for health and nutrition brands looking to connect with the needs of today’s more discerning and proactive consumers.

Commercial opportunity for formulators

The Global Prebiotic Association (GPA), which organises the awareness week, plays a crucial role in advancing the prebiotic category. As a trade association comprising ingredient manufacturers, brand holders and retailers, the GPA’s mission focuses on increasing public awareness about prebiotic production, quality and science, while expanding manufacturer understanding of the evidence supporting both established and emerging benefits.

Through educational initiatives and strategic communications, the GPA connects with key stakeholders including the medical community, academia, media and regulatory groups. This connected approach helps create the transparency and understanding that the rapidly emerging category needs.

For formulators operating in today’s competitive global supplement and functional food markets, this growing awareness creates significant opportunities. The prebiotic category is projected to see compound annual growth of almost 15% to 2030 according to intelligence firm Grand View Research, demonstrating the remarkable potential available to brands that can effectively tap into rising consumer demand.

This year’s Global Prebiotics Week theme, ‘Powering the Microbiome’, puts the spotlight on how prebiotics can be used to create targeted health outcomes in a variety of different ways, through nourishing specific types of beneficial bacteria in the gut.

Scientific backing meets formulation versatility

Perhaps most significantly for product developers, prebiotics offer high versatility in formulation. As a substrate rather than a living organism like probiotics, prebiotic fibre is extremely stable. Our own galactooligosaccharide ingredient, Bimuno® GOS, demonstrates this perfectly. Resistant to a wide range of temperatures and acidities, it can be added to formulations at practically any stage of the manufacturing process, making it suitable for a wide variety of product applications.

What makes prebiotics particularly attractive to formulators is that they meet the rising consumer demand for scientifically backed solutions. The most studied prebiotic GOS in the market, Bimuno GOS is supported by over 120 scientific publications, including more than 20 clinical trials exploring its influence in supporting gastrointestinal health, immune function and cognitive wellbeing. The ingredient has also been researched for its potential in synbiotic product formulations, which combine prebiotics and probiotics in one product.

Looking ahead through 2025 and beyond, the prebiotic category shows no sign of slowing. Consumer proactivity around health management continues to rise, and importantly, understanding of the gut microbiome’s influence on wellbeing is becoming more widespread. This positions prebiotics as a clear choice for formulators developing next-generation health products and underlines the importance of gut health education.

As a key member of the GPA with several members of our team on advisory boards, we actively support initiatives that help bridge knowledge gaps in the market. Global Prebiotics Week brings together leading voices in gut health science to share insight into category development and future opportunities.

For brands looking to connect with an engaged health audience, Global Prebiotics Week provides fantastic learning opportunities, and a glimpse into the future of the supplement industry. The scientific backing behind prebiotics continues to develop at speed, uncovering new ways that beneficial bacteria support the body. When combined with the stability and versatility that prebiotic ingredients offer formulators, it becomes clear why the category is experiencing such remarkable growth.

To learn more about Global Prebiotics Week and get involved, visit prebioticassociation.org.