In over 40 countries, people are already familiar with tablets, powder and capsules. Spirulina is a featured ingredient in pasta, cookies, snack bars and juice bars. It's used in personal care products like skin creams and shampoos. Look for it in innovative pet supplements for fish, aquatic animals, birds, cats and dogs. Natural food colors from spirulina have been widely used in Japan for years. Coming soon are therapeutic extracts.

• Market evolution in the USA.
• Natural health food products around the world.
• A specialty food for aquaculture.
• Health food for the aquarium.
• Spirulina - Summary of benefits for aquaculture.
• Health, beauty and color for ornamental birds.
• Healthy food for cats and dogs.
• Tonic for horses, cows and breeding bulls.
• Spirulina - Benefits for pets and animals.
• Natural colors for foods and cosmetics.
• Fluorescent markers for medical tests.
• Enzymes for genetic research.
• New super spirulina products and extracts.

For centuries, traditional peoples have eaten seaweeds and aquatic vegetables. The first microalgae cultivated and sold in modern society was chlorella. Beginning in the 1970s, thousands of tons have been sold as health food supplements. Chlorella offers many benefits, backed by decades of clinical research. Japanese culture has always been receptive to sea products. Spirulina began selling in Japan as a health food supplement in the late 1970s. In the USA it was introduced in 1979 through natural food stores by Earthrise Company, and through multi-level sales by the Light Force Company.

Introduction, 1979-1981
Would Americans eat algae? The natural food market seemed a good place to ask. In the 1970s about 10% of all U.S. consumers were already eating some health or natural foods. They chose food based on nutritional information, not simply inherited cultural traditions. Concerned about the decline in food quality from over-processing, chemical additives, toxic pesticides and pollutants, they opted for natural foods over synthetic supplements. Natural food customers embraced this new algae, discovering many new ways to use it in their diet. Spirulina gathered a small, dedicated and steadily growing following, but remained a long way from mainstream recognition.

Diet boom, 1981-1983
In 1981, a national tabloid's front page headlines announced: Doctor's Praise: A Safe Diet Pill - You'll Never Go Hungry.1 The article claimed spirulina was a safe and effective appetite suppressant. The next day, thousands of people who had never been inside a health food store, lined up to try out the latest ‘magic’ diet pill. Spirulina became a new diet phenomenon. News was passed by word of mouth, by magazines and newspapers, by radio and television.

Hundreds of diet pill companies jumped on the bandwagon, rushing their brand to market. Within a month, new brands appeared in health food stores, drug stores and supermarkets. But there wasn’t enough to go around. The entire world supply in 1981 was about 500 tons per year, from Mexico and Thailand. Much of this was already contracted by Japanese companies, and only several hundred tons per year of authentic spirulina actually entered the US market.

Popularity subsides, 1984-1986
Because of this supply shortage, many new brands sold by diet pill companies were adulterated, having less than 50% of the amount claimed on the label. Some products contained none at all. A lot was adulterated with alfalfa or cheap green fillers. The media hype led most people to believe it was nothing but a diet product. Hoping to magically lose weight, most people paid for green pills that were not even the real thing, and they experienced little health benefit. Spirulina hit bottom by 1986.

Coming back, 1987-1990
Natural food consumers who knew how to use it properly and enjoy its benefits remained faithful. As more people recognized the real health value, demand steadily rose again, along with the other green superfoods such as chlorella (green algae) and aphanizomenon (blue-green algae), barley grass and wheat grass. Green superfoods have grown in popularity about 30% per year since 1990.

Renewed growth, 1991 to the present
New spirulina products appeared, formulated with natural herbs, phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals to raise energy levels, reduce pre-menstrual stress, boost athletic performance and endurance, promote a lighter appetite, offer antioxidant protection. Meal replacements with spirulina offered chocolate, fruit and vanilla flavors. Companies invented snack bars, pasta, and fruit and vegetable juices.

The public has become aware that nutraceutical foods have health benefits beyond simple nutrition, and that whole foods with phytonutrient compounds can help prevent disease. As more research on spirulina’s health benefits were published, it became better known as a potent nutraceutical. By 1997, along with the new U.S. dietary supplement labeling regulations, dietary and herbal supplements began to display label claims about health, structure and function benefits. This new labeling and associated health publicity propelled food supplements into the mainstream markets.

By the late 1990s, big increases in spirulina supply coming from China and India drove down product prices across Asia, Europe and North America, making spirulina more affordable for more people.