Published March 2024
Almost all MSG is consumed in food applications; major end users include the food processing industry (including producers of convenience foods, snacks, soups, instant noodles, condiments, and seasoning blends), restaurants, and institutional foodservice providers. In addition, MSG is sold directly to consumers. A negligible amount of MSG is used in animal feeds. Production of the chelating agent glutamic acid N,N-diacetic acid tetrasodium salt (GLDA) is a new and promising end use for MSG but accounts for a very small share of global consumption.
MSG production capacity is largely concentrated in Asia, where feedstocks (such as tapioca from cassava and molasses from sugarcane) and labor are abundant and inexpensive and where demand is highest. Asian production capacity accounted for approximately 93% of world MSG production capacity in 2023. Mainland China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Taiwan are the major producers in Asia.
Mainland China is largely responsible for the recent increases in world production and consumption of MSG. Currently, mainland China is the world’s largest MSG producer and consumer. In 2023, mainland Chinese production and consumption accounted for the majority of both world production and consumption. Mainland China is also the world’s largest exporter of MSG.
The following chart shows world consumption of monosodium glutamate:
Northeast Asia accounted for majority of world consumption in 2023. In this region, food processor sales is the largest consumption segmentation, followed by restaurant and institutional foods and direct consumer sales. In Southeast Asia, MSG is traditionally used during cooking and majority of the consumption goes to direct consumer sales. In Africa, umami seasonings complement the staple diet of potatoes, rice, noodles and soup. The food processor market is booming, with big companies such as Nestle making acquisitions and investments in recent years.
In North America, many foods (notably savory snacks) that include added MSG remain popular with consumers and MSG continues to see widespread use in mainland Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese and Korean restaurants. Nonetheless, the increased interest in foods that contain no artificial ingredients (such as added MSG) is expected to suppress the growth of MSG consumption. In Western Europe, consumption of MSG in food had declined before the pandemic, but there was steady growth in MSG consumption in 2021–23 owing to strong soup, restaurant and institutional food sales. MSG will continue to cede some market share to yeast extracts (which are rich in naturally occurring glutamates); however, the substitution of MSG is still a challenge from a cost perspective and in terms of meeting the correct taste profile.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the consumption pattern of MSG. During 2020–21, national lockdowns, shorter operating hours and social distancing policies led to lower traffic at restaurants and shopping malls, reducing sales of MSG in the restaurant and institutional foods segment. Instead of eating out, consumers stayed home, resulting in higher MSG in direct consumer sales and home-use products. Consumption of MSG in processed food, including frozen and canned goods, ready-to-eat meals, snacks, salad dressings, sauces and gravies, also experienced growth during the pandemic. Following the pandemic, during 2022–23, the reopening of business activities led to a rebound of MSG sales in restaurant and institutional foods section. Consumer preference for convenience led to increased consumption of convenience food and frozen food, which also offer a cost-competitive option under higher inflation environment.
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