Specialized food market: assessment of potential and prospects for development in the Republic of Belarus

The imbalance of the population’s diets in the modern conditions is characterized by excessive intake of salt, saturated fats and sugar, deficiency of complex carbohydrates, polyunsaturated fatty acids, micro- and macronutrients. This leads to impaired physical development, tension of metabolic processes and adaptation mechanisms in the human body, as evidenced by the annual increase in noninfectious diseases. In this regard, making a food environment that contributes to full, balanced and healthy diet for all categories of the population is one of the priorities of national policy. A methodology has been developed for assessing and predicting the development potential of the specialized food market, that combines goal and objectives, principles and methods, an algorithm and a system of criteria and indicators for assessing the market segments development. The methodology was tested based on example of the segments of children’s, sports, dietary therapeutic and preventive nutrition in the Republic of Belarus, which allowed to assess potential market capacity, taking into account the determinants of market formation and substantiate a set of promising development directions. The practical significance of the development lies in its focus on increasing the physical and economic accessibility of specialized food products to consumer target groups by creating the necessary socio-economic conditions in the country that ensure effective integration of scientific, industrial and trade spheres in the direction of improving the system of development, commercialization, introduction and promotion of innovative products with active regulatory and coordinating role of the state.