Since 1994 when Seed Planning, Inc. released the first health food-related market report entitled "A Study Of Worldwide Health Foods Market," our effort continued for tracing the fastest-growing segment of the market.

Over the past decade, Japan experienced a rapid growth in the proportion of the senior population, from only 14% in 1994 to 19% (a growth of 710,000 people) as of September 2003 according to the statistics of the Japanese Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications.

Under the circumstances, there is a growing interest in health among the people, and now an increasing number of them take certain types of health foods aiming to prevent a disease or to improve health. According to the MHLW’s survey conducted in 2000, the proportion of people who have ever taken any type of health food exceeded 40% of all, and the health food market is expected to grow reaching JPY3,200 billion by the end of 2010. On the other hand, any commercial messages are not permitted to be presented for so-called ’health foods’ that are not covered by the new Nutritional Functional Food System established in 2001, given those messages are designed to emphasize its efficacy, despite the fact that those products account for more than 70% of the overall health food market. Thus, regulatory programs that deal with the health food industry on the whole have yet to be established.

This report will provide detailed information about current trends and future direction for the health food market, focusing on the industrial movements associated with potential ’Health Foods Law’ enforcement and factors impacting development and marketing efforts of the manufacturers.