Gelatin market and raw material

Raw material

Gelatin on the international market was mainly produced from the skin and bones of pig and cattle. Bovine gelatin is treated skeptically because of mad cow disease (also known as Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BSE), although scientists say it is not contaminated by this disease. Porcine and bovine gelatin are also prone to religious controversy. In recent years, new raw materials have been used in production thanks to persistent research and improvement of processing technology. Gelatin extracted from fish and chicken skin has been introduced to market one after another. The world's leading producers of fish skin gelatin are Japan, Norway, Finland and other countries with developed fisheries. Although the output of new gelatin is not as high as traditional gelatin, it has greatly expanded its upstream supply chain and promoted the development of gelatin industry.

It is divided into 5 categories according to its different raw materials: cattle hide gelatin, pigskin gelatin, pig bone gelatin, cattle bone gelatin and gelatin made from other raw materials, such as chicken skin, chicken bone, fish skin and fish bone, etc. In terms of quantity, both cattle hide and pigskin gelatin account for about 74.2% of the world market together, bone gelatin accounts for about 24.2%, and gelatin from other sources only accounts for 1.6% (2006). This shows that bovine hide and pigskin gelatin are the main products in the international market.

Application and Market Share

Gelatin is the large molecule hydrocolloid that is widely used in food, pharmaceutical and chemical industries. In 2021, 63% gelatin is consumes in food industry, 31% gelain is used in pharmaceutical industry, and the rest is used for printing, film, glue, etc. The improvement of people's living standards and emphasis on health have driven the continued prosperity of the world gelatin market.

Relying on advanced technology and huge market demand, the developed regions such as Europe and North America are constantly developing new technology and applications, making pharmaceutical gelatin no longer limited to hard and soft capsules. Some new medical uses have been discovered one after another: microcapsules, tissue engineering, blood plasma substitutes, hemostatic sponges. Pharmaceutical gelatin is more expensive than edible gelatin due to its high quality. Its consumption will reflect the living standard and economic condition in a region. The advanced technology and economic prosperity have resulted in higher consumption of medicinal gelatin in developed countries.