Blossoming inside the wall, fragrant outside the wall! Why can Tianmen Winter become popular overseas, and what potential and opportunities does it have?
January 31, 2024
Where is the place where Tianmen Winter is used?
Tianmen Winter is becoming popular in overseas markets. Tianmendong is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb with a long history of utilization in the Ayurvedic system of India. According to market data released by SPINS, as of the 52 weeks ending June 18, 2023, Tianmendong's sales in the US natural enhanced channel and traditional multi-channel markets reached 9.97 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 48.3%. It is expected to enter sales of millions of US dollars in 2024.
So why can Tianmen Winter become popular in overseas markets? Where is its potential? What kind of inspiration can it bring to the local market?
01
Why can Tianmen Winter become popular overseas?
Tianmen Winter was first recorded in the Shennong Classic of Materia Medica, which has been recorded in various dynasties of Chinese herbal medicine. Sweet and bitter in taste, with a cold nature, it has the effects of nourishing yin, moistening dryness, clearing the lungs, and generating fluids. It is a plant of the Liliaceae and the Asparagus genus, and its dry root blocks can be used as medicine. It is understood that the root extract of Tianmendong contains 19 amino acid components such as asparagine, glutamic acid, and citrulline, as well as oligosaccharides and polysaccharides.
The reason why Tianmendong is currently showing rapid growth in overseas markets is due to the rise of the women's health market, which is one of the potential raw materials of this market.
In addition to the aforementioned functions, Tianmendong can also support women's health. The Ayurvedic herbal system in India uses it for female hormone balance and emotional health.
At present, more and more enterprises are seizing opportunities in the women's health track by taking advantage of Tianmen Winter.
Case 1: Female stress supplements
The EmpowHER supplement launched by Lean Factor is aimed at women's long-term stress conditions. This product contains 52 natural herbs, including South African eggplant, ginseng, acanthopanax senticosus, Schisandra, American ginseng, Tianmendong, and Xilai Zhi.
Case 2: Sparse postpartum hair volume in women
Nutrafol has developed a nutritional supplement to address the issue of sparse hair in women after childbirth. They stated that the ingredients of Nutrafol postpartum supplements target the fundamental causes of sparse hair during the postpartum transition period, including nutritional deficiencies, physical stress from childbirth, and emotional stress from new daily life. The core component of this product, the Nutrafol synergistic protein recovery mixture, includes the extract of Tianmendong. This mixture has been clinically validated.
Case 3: Raw materials for root extract of Tianmendong
In addition to terminal products, upstream raw material companies have also started to make efforts. In 2023, enterprise Cepham launched SheVari4, a raw material for the root extract of Asparagus, to support women's health. SheVari4 is a clinically proven compound that Cepham claims can help address issues related to menopause in women, such as hot flashes, night sweats, brain fog, attention, anxiety, low mood, irritability, and stress.
Overall, Tianmendong can be applied in the women's health track, especially in addressing issues such as menopausal health, female emotions, and stress. According to statistics, the number of postmenopausal women in China has reached 256 million in 2021. The World Health Organization predicts that it will grow to 280 million by 2030, bringing the global population of menopausal women to 1.2 billion. A study in the International Journal of Applied and Basic Medical Research also showed that among 87.7% of women reporting menopausal symptoms, the main problem was anxiety, accounting for 80%; Sleep problems account for 61.2%; In addition, approximately 36.7% of women experience hot flashes.
In the long run, Tianmendong will have great development space and potential driven by the rise of the women's health market.
02
What are the development prospects of Tianmendong in the local market?
At present, the application scope of Tianmendong in China's regulations is for medicinal purposes, and it cannot be applied in ordinary food and health food nutrition products. However, it is commonly consumed in some regions of China, such as Sichuan. At present, the artificial planting areas of Tianmendong are mainly distributed in Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangxi, Guizhou and other places.
Local government support
The good news is that local governments are also interested in promoting Tianmendong's legal identity in the food industry. Neijiang City in Sichuan Province is striving to build itself into a "hometown of winter in China", and Sichuan Province has designated Neijiang as the real estate area of winter. Chen Lang, Deputy Mayor of Neijiang City Government, suggested supporting the application of dual-use substances for food and medicine in Sichuan Neijiang Tiandong, and promoting the development of authentic medicinal materials in revolutionary old areas.
This also means that in the coming years, Tianmendong is expected to become a medicinal and edible homologous substance in China, which will undoubtedly have an important promoting effect on the development of the domestic Tianmendong industry.
More health potential worth exploring
Based on its own characteristics, in addition to the female health mentioned earlier, Tianmendong has great potential for application in multiple health tracks, including respiratory health, digestive health, urinary/reproductive health, skin health, and so on. Among them, whether it is digestive health, skin health, etc., they are all at the level of billions of yuan. I believe that with the rise of the same origin of medicine and food, Tianmendong will have a good place to play in these fields.
Research support
From the perspective of scientific research, there are currently over 200 studies on Tianmendong on the domestic knowledge network, including breeding, planting, cultivation, extraction, application, and even clinical and industrial development. Overall, Tianmendong has gained basic attention and research analysis in the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, which is also very beneficial for its development.
Consumer awareness enhancement
From the perspective of the consumer market, consumers' awareness of Tianmendong is also constantly increasing. Taking Douyin platform as an example, the Tianmendong Douyin keyword search index in 2023 increased by 347.98% year-on-year, with a month on month increase of 281.01% and an average of 3772. Consumer enthusiasm for understanding Tianmendong is rapidly increasing. This also means that Tianmendong has good opportunities in China.
Summary
Overall, the rapid growth of Tianmendong in overseas markets is the rise of the global women's health market. When we turn our attention back to the domestic market, it is regrettable that Tianmendong still faces regulatory obstacles, which has led it to the dilemma of having heroic talents but having no greater "application". Domestic enterprises are unable to develop related products, once again becoming a case of "blooming within the wall and fragrant outside the wall". With the promotion of regulations by local governments, the improvement of consumer awareness, and the global trend and genuine health needs, we look forward to a better future for the development of Tianmendong in China.
