Food-beauty interaction “sweet spot”: Nutricosmetic NPD is gathering pace, notes Lipofoods exec

11 Jul 2019 --- Nutricosmetics – supplements ingested with the aim of improving physical appearance – are gathering mainstream popularity thanks to increasing levels of evidence backing their efficacy. While the food-beauty intersection has been present for some time, we have now arrived at the “sweet spot”, Isabel Gomez, Marketing Manager of Lipofoods, a Lubrizol company, tells NutritionInsight. “Research about the role of nutrients in appearance has encouraged people to start believing in these products.”

The trend goes by numerous monikers including beauty-from-within, edible beauty, skingestibles and consumable skincare. However, “nutricosmetics” is the preferred term for Gomez. “The term clearly highlights the link between nutrition and cosmetics and is generally best recognized abroad.”

Isabel Gomez is the Marketing Manager of Lipofoods and has over ten years of experience in FMCG industries.A primary challenge for nutricosmetic producers is that consumers are skeptical about the actual benefits of the products. “It’s essential to overcome this – brands need to focus on R&D and producing scientifically substantiated evidence about the ingredients in order to gain consumers’ trust. From the marketing standpoint, there needs to be clear educational messages so that the consumers gain awareness and familiarity of the products.”

Yet consumer caution is not always misplaced as many on the market do not live up to their claims, notes Gomez. 

“A primary issue is that there is no regulation established, which means that in order for products to prove they work, they need to have clinical data backing up their claims. Additionally, it is helpful if products that have been tested in people and have demonstrated benefits.”

Consumers should also look out for products that have health professional endorsements, as well as targeted functionalities, such as being anti-acne instead of being all-purpose, Gomez advises. “People should also know the timeframe that they can expect to see visible results. Evidence is the difference between products that are just selling a story and those that have actual benefits.”

This disconnect in communication between producers and consumers has led to the failure of some products. “Consumers get confused because there is not enough evidence, or the results come too late. They stop the treatment because they don’t have enough information or because the cost is too high. On the company side, they often don’t know which channel to place the product in – should it be beauty or nutrition?”Products that target skin are very popular. 

Gomez notes that she has seen lots of products coming on and off the market, and that there have been key players in the food and beauty industry who have struggled to find success. However, even with these hurdles, the market has still continued to gather pace around the world.

New launches are targeting three major areas – skin, hair, and nails. Skin has the majority of launches, with UV and solar protection, as well as anti-aging claims being popular. There are also a lot of skin-whitening and anti-acne releases. For hair, companies are trying to aid growth, restoration, and nourishment. When it comes to nails, Gomez notes that a lot of nutricosmetics claiming to improve their strength and overall appearance.

In terms of popular ingredients, vitamins, minerals and carotenoids like lutein are common. There is also an increasing interest in superfood extracts as well as vitamin C and omega 3 fatty acids because they have been shown to improve skin appearance from within, according to Gomez. “There’s also a lot of use of Ayurvedic ingredients like curcumin. These ingredients have traditionally been used in Chinese or Indian medicine and are well known to have very powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.”

Going back to nature and addressing pill fatigue
As consumers across FMCG markets increasingly turn towards clean labels, fewer ingredients, transparency and easy-to-understand formulas, nutricosmetics are also shifting towards a more natural approach. “Consumers are increasingly mindful and wanting to avoid synthetic ingredients, so I’d expect to see even more launches in natural nutricosmetics,” predicts Gomez.

Consumers are looking for new delivery forms, including health drinks and gummies.Gomez notes that it is the whole product concept that is changing, with people having an increasing awareness of packaging. “Companies are trying to bring in plastic alternatives. I’ve seen lots of products that have natural formulations and also include plastic-free products.”

The veganism trend has also translated to nutricosmetics as some consumers try to avoid animal sourced ingredients. “Hydrolyzed collagen has been around for a long time, but more people are trying to find natural alternatives. Part of this has to do with the environment, as well as animal welfare concerns. People are trying to find a vegan-friendly alternative – there’s a lot of ongoing research about how to find a substitute that mimics collagen,” Gomez continues.

The preferred delivery forms are also starting to shift, says Gomez, which mirrors the wider sentiment of “pill fatigue” in the supplement industry. Essentially, consumers don’t want to think of their beauty product as a medicine or a normal pharmaceutical product.

“In terms of sales, people are still demanding pills, but there have been many recent launches in beauty foods and drinks. This is especially strong in products that consumers perceive as being naturally healthy, like flavored waters, juices and yogurts. The other trendy application is beauty gummies or chews.”

While female millennials continue to be the target market, men are starting to show interest as well. “Some men still struggle with the idea of going to the supermarket and buying a cream – it’s still considered a very feminine act by many. The good thing about nutricosmetics is that it’s something that they just ingest, so it’s more attractive to them.”

By Katherine Durrell