IndustryARC expects the number of tests to increase from 1.78 billion in 2013 to 2.62 billion in 2018, growing at a CAGR of around 8.4%.
The food testing market is growing due to the demand for food safety tests across countries and geographic regions.
Competition from local companies with respect to testing laboratories and instruments OEMs is the major challenge for the market, said the report.
Companies in China like Beijing Purkinje General Instrument, Focused Photonics Inc, Beifen-Ruili Analytical Instrument Group, Shanghai Techcomp Instrument are posing challenges to Agilent Technologies, Shimadzu Corp, PerkinElmer and Thermo Fisher Scientific in the laboratory analytical instrumentation market.
Key growth strategy for the major testing products and laboratory service providers is low cost analytical instruments for market penetration and aggressive expansion by investment in new laboratory openings.
Increasing concerns from public, product recalls by global food manufacturers, increasing government regulations and stringent policies are also factors.
Microbiology analysis is the major product segment with significant revenue share and growth potential in the next five years.
Emerging markets still contribute significantly less to the food testing market revenues and global contract testing companies like SGS and Eurofins are strategically targeting countries like China, India etc. to increase their market share and revenues.
Testing laboratories of these global companies are being opened to meet demand for requirements and safety standards set by the local governments.
Other growing segments are allergens analysis, adulteration and GMO testing, fats and oil analysis, according to IndustryARC.
The pathogen market consists of testing for Norovirus, Salmonella, Clostridium, Campylobacter, Staphylococcus aureus, E.coli, Yersinia, Toxoplasma Gondii, Vibrio and Listeria.
Some of the trends which are affecting market growth are increasing food recalls and stringent regulation testing across countries, rise in foodborne illnesses like Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus and Campylobacter.