Welcome to the 20th edition of the Panama Interview Series where we discuss topics regarding foreign direct investment in Latin America and the Caribbean. In this edition we discuss the future of probiotics in Latin America with a focus on Postbiotics.

In this the 20th Edition of the Panama Interview Series, we are honored to have as our guest Michael Hsiao, Sales Manager, International Business Department, Glac Biotech Co., Ltd.

We look forward to his insights regarding the lessons learned from the current approaches in the probiotics field, and the challenges and future steps required for the development of postbiotics, with an emphasis on applications in Latin America.

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- The growth of the digestive health category has been a nutrition industry success story.- Ingredients with digestive health benefits now command very high levels of consumer awareness, and this is particularly true of probiotics.

- The global probiotics market is projected to grow to $69 billion at a CAGR of 7.0% through 2023.- Functional foods and beverages are by far the biggest segment for probiotics, currently standing at $40 billion and representing more than 82% of the total market.

- The LATAM region offers the most significant potential for growth of the functional foods industry over the coming years. The market for probiotics and digestive health products in Venezuela experienced significant growth pre-COVID19 and has great promise for continued growth post-COVID.