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Singapore – As the final preparations for Vitafoods Asia round off, Informa Exhibitions looks forward to welcoming trade professionals to discover, learn, and network at Asia’s only dedicated event for the nutraceutical, functional food and beverages, and dietary supplement industries. From 5 – 6 September, uncover the latest innovations and key developments that will impact industry and product development at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. “At each edition of Vitafoods Asia, our various partners and industry experts actively contribute by sharing their in-depth insights with us and the industry at large – both leading up to and at the show,” said Chris Lee, Managing Director of Global Health & Nutrition Network, Europe, Informa Exhibitions. “Their extensive knowledge of global industry trends and broad exposure to the cutting-edge innovations have helped many companies in shaping their business development plans. We are delighted to have some of the best minds from both the commercial industry and academia share more about the hottest trends across the region at Vitafoods Asia, whether in the Conference or on and around the show floor.” Healthy Ageing: A Pressing Concern for Asia According to United Nations’ Economic & Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)[1], about 60% of the world’s population of older persons, defined as people at 60 years or older, live in the Asia Pacific region. Population ageing is happening at an unprecedented pace because fertility rates have been declining rapidly, while life expectancy has improved tremendously. In fact, the number of older persons in Asia Pacific is expected to more than double from 547 million in 2016 to nearly 1.3 billion by 2050. Clearly, the notion of healthy ageing is a pressing concern for Asia Pacific countries and its people, and this presents opportunities for the nutraceutical […]

In the picture: Improving the efficiency of materials will help to further advancements in designing and optimising perovskite solar cells. Improving the efficiency of solar cells requires materials free from impurities and structural defects. Scientists across many disciplines at KAUST have shown that 2D organic-inorganic hybrid materials feature far fewer defects than thicker 3D versions. Modern-day electronics rely on technologies that can develop almost perfect crystals of silicon; flawless to the atomic level. This is crucial because defects and impurities scatter electrons as they flow, which adversely affects the material’s electronic properties. But hybrid perovskites, an exciting class of electronic material, cannot be constructed using the epitaxial or layer methods developed for silicon. Instead, they are produced using solution-based processes. While this makes them cheaper than silicon, it also makes purity much harder to achieve as defect population and species are sensitive to the processing conditions. Osman Bakr from the KAUST Solar Centre together with colleagues from multiple divisions across KAUST and the University of Toronto, demonstrate that two-dimensional layers of perovskite material can achieve levels of purity much higher than is possible than in their 3D counterpart. “Two-dimensional hybrid perovskites are a subgroup of the big hybrid perovskite family,” explains Wei Peng, lead author and doctoral degree recipient from Bakr’s lab. “They can be derived by inserting large organic cations in three-dimensional perovskite structures.” Hybrid perovskites are made up of lead and halide (such as iodine) atoms and an organic component. This class of materials in solar cells has already shown ground-breaking potential for energy conversion efficiency while having low production costs and the possibility for being integrated in flexible devices. This combination of qualities makes hybrid perovskites an exciting material for optoelectronic applications. Peng, Bakr and coworkers created a 2D material made of periodic layers of hybrid perovskites […]

Next month, Asia’s nutraceutical, functional food and beverages, and dietary supplement industries will gather in Singapore for Vitafoods Asia, the region’s only event dedicated to these markets. The organisers reached out to exhibitors and visitors[1] last month to get their thoughts on how the industry was doing, and some interesting insights were uncovered. Asian Nutraceutical Industry Still Going Strong Despite what crowd sentiment and ‘common sense’ say about the global economy, both exhibitors and visitors expressed positivity about the future of their companies. More than 80% of those surveyed said that they were optimistic about the sales performance and profitability of their businesses. And according to Allied Market Research[2], the global nutraceuticals market size is expected to reach $302,306 million by 2022, with a CAGR of 7.04% from 2016 to 2022, and Asia Pacific is expected to surpass the global growth average with a CAGR of 7.33%, making noteworthy contributions to the global market. Nutraceutical Product Categories of Most Interest The top 5 categories that were most important to exhibitors’ and visitors’ businesses were Cardiovascular Health, Digestive Health, General Wellbeing, Healthy Ageing, and Immunity. When asked about his opinion on what’s trending, Prof. Chin-Kun Wang, President of the International Society of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods, shared, “The emphasis on microbiota is increasing – most people understand the link between health and gut microflore. Prebiotics and probiotics have become key ingredients in nutraceuticals and functional food. Gastrointestinal (GI) health has become an important issue in Asia as economic growth, social stresses and dietary behaviours continue to influence health. GI health products will continue to develop and we will see many innovative prebiotics and probiotics in 2018.” Prof. Wang will lead several discussions at the Life Stages Theatre, and speak in the Digestive Health and Microbiome Summit this year. Top 3 Trends […]

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