In the Vol. 1 of this series which was released in March, 2003, the value of geriatric/patient food market was estimated by product category and by type of disease, based on the findings of the interviews conducted with 53 food manufacturers.

According to the survey, the total market value, including chewing/swallowing aid, thick liquid foods, foods for patients with renal disease/diabetes, is expected to exceed 6.9 million Yen by the end of 2005, up from 2.35 million Yen recorded in 1998 and 4.68 million Yen in 2002. There are several factors impacting on the market - growing needs for geriatric foods accelerated by growing senior population, intense competition arising from companies seeking to develop innovative foods that can be used as chewing/swallowing aid as well as in patients with renal disease, etc.

The latest issue, Vol. 2, is designed to provide a deeper insight into the geriatric/patient food market by focusing on the wholesalers trends in both pharmaceutical and food industries. In addition, the scope of the research was extended to sales trends particularly in the thick liquid food market by region/customer, in view of its hugeness in market size and intensity of competition facing the market.