Calcium propionate is the calcium salt of propionic acid. It is a food & feed additive and finds applications in pharmaceuticals and agriculture. It is used as a preservative and mold inhibitor in food & feed applications and as a pesticide in the agricultural sector. Calcium propionate is considered safe for human consumption and can be used in organic cultivation.
Preservatives are basic requirements to prevent the spoilage of food & feed, thereby ensuring the supply of safe products to consumers. The preservation of food & feed products and maintaining their quality are major concerns in the respective industries, globally. Bakery products and feed have been dominant applications for calcium propionate over the last decade. The key function of calcium propionate is to counter the growth of microbes on various bakery products that are prone to spoilage by bacteria. This makes calcium propionate an ideal preservative for yeast-raised products to cope with the problems of spoilage. Additionally, research in various fields has opened new avenues for applications of calcium propionate in several food products, owing to the growth of the dairy, meat, and processed meat industries, along with other food applications. The application of calcium propionate in pharmaceuticals and agriculture is limited; however, these segments exhibit good growth potential in the next few years.
The global calcium propionate market was valued at USD 262.4 million in 2017 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.6%, to reach USD 363.3 million by 2023. The growth of the calcium propionate market during the forecast period can be attributed to factors such as growth in demand for bakery products with extended shelf-life and cost advantages provided by calcium propionate over other preservatives.
The calcium propionate market is dominated by major players such as Niacet (US), ADDCON (Germany), Impextraco (Belgium), and Macco Organiques (Canada).
The calcium propionate market, by form, was dominated by the dry segment, in terms of volume. It is also projected to grow at a higher CAGR of 5.8% during the forecast period due to factors such as ease of mixing and better dispersion throughout the food matrix; additionally, dry calcium propionate does not affect the leavening action of baking powder in bakery products.
Calcium propionate is highly used in bread in the food industry; the growth of the bread industry, especially in the developing economies, owing to high per capita bread consumption, fuels the demand for calcium propionate. The demand for feed in developing regions is expected to grow along with the increase in livestock production. The increased demand for quality feed products with extended shelf-life has propelled the growth of the market for calcium propionate in feed.
