Aloe Vera has grown to be an essential plant in today’s medicinal industry.
From being used as an ointment in treating mild burns to being an important ingredient in a wide array of other medicines, the product has seen its popularity surge significantly over the past few years.
The popularity of Aloe Vera has also been significantly linked to the growth in the prominence of natural skincare products.
As the world continues to highlight the need for more herbal skin care products, manufacturers have been forced to make the pivot, and that has caused products like Aloe Vera to see spikes in adoption and purchases.
Increased Competition and Regulatory Irregularities
However, San Francisco-based research and analysis firm TMR Research revealed that the growth in Aloe Vera production across the world could see sluggish trends over the next few years.
In an official press release, the research firm explained that while the Aloe Vera market has seen significant growth over the past few years, some stringent conditions could hamper the growth of the ingredient’s production – so much so that it could end up falling short of global demand for it.
The release pointed particularly to the prevalence of varying regulatory frameworks regarding the planting and growth of Aloe Vera plants across several countries. It also touched on the emergence of new market players who could pressurize a fragile market that already has problems with meeting demand.
Although the press release was a little light on figures, TMR Research pointed out that the Asia Pacific region is set to hold a majority share of the global Aloe Vera market.
Demand is said to be high in countries such as India and China, as these countries use the plant for both cosmetic and medicinal purposes. As it is with many other countries, Chinese and Indians have become more exposed to the need for natural cosmetic products, and Aloe Vera has risen in prominence as a result.
“Furthermore, North America featured as a leading dealer in Aloe Vera gel raw material and likely to contribute significantly in this market. The presence of key Aloe Vera gel manufacturing companies and key suppliers of end products has further benefited the demand in the Aloe Vera gel market,” the report added.
Potato Yields Return Sluggish Numbers
As it turns out, Aloe Vera gel isn’t the only natural product that seems to be in short supply. As Potato News Today reported earlier this week, revised figures on potato production by the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) have shown that there seems to be a sustained sluggish trend in growth.
As the report explained, Cedric Porter, the Managing Editor of World Potato Markets, explained that in 2018, the global potato output slipped to 368.247 million tonnes. While it showed early signs of a downturn, the figure still represented the third highest in history and gave farmers signs of an upsurge.
He went on to add that the FAO had forecasted that 158 countries had seen a growth in area figures of 17.85 million hectares in 2018. Last year, the organization had pegged this number to be as high as 19.099 million. However, estimate reviews confirmed that the numbers were closer to 17.58 million hectares, thus marking a reduction of 7.9 percent.
The report further added that China and India hold about 40 percent of the world’s total potato plantation areas. At the same time, several other Asian regions such as Kazakhstan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh have also seen figures on the rise.
