This is according to Pearly Neo, editor of FoodNavigator-Asia and Amanda Lim, editor of CosmeticsDesign-Asia on the last episode of this year’s Nutrachampion podcast.
Both FoodNavigator-Asia and CosmeticsDesign-Asia are sister titles of NutraIngredients-Asia and the editors were summing up the major trends and intersections happening between the nutrition, food, beverage, and oral skincare domains in the past year.
Functionality and wellness are rapidly gaining popular among both big corporations and start-ups in the food and beverage sector.
Examples include PepsiCo’s hydration beverage under the brand Gatorade, while start-ups like Australia’s Tummy Buddies have also enter the scene with synbiotic flavoured water.
Pearly notices that these examples are not the exceptions and that the wider food and beverage sector has jumped on the bandwagon.
“l’ll say that it’s definitely here for the long-term, possibly not just as a trend, but as a rediscovered category based on giving added values to consumers.”
Expanding the product range and reformulating products to meet regulatory compliance or circumventing sugar tax are some of the key reasons for making healthier products.
However, she observes that a growing theme among food and beverage companies in the past one year is their intention in providing “value for money” products amid ongoing inflation.
“In the past one year, something that’s popping up in interviews is that they are looking at giving value for money, in light of the current economic conditions.
“Essentially, companies need to keep consumers interested during these times, but they also can’t just cut their prices, because they have to answer to investors, so the strategy that a lot of these firms are using, is that they are going to increase the value that they can offer to consumers with their products, and so, they have gone down this value- for-money route.”
Some of the common functionalities that she is seeing include gut health, as well as growing options for sleep support and stress relief.
There is however, a slightly different picture painted in the oral skincare scene.
Amanda pointed out that historically and even until today, it is mostly the North East Asian skincare companies that are actively driving the oral skincare or beauty-from-within sector.
“The concept of beauty-from-within isn’t very new in Asia, I like what Pearly said, it’s kind of like a ‘rediscovered’ category, because it has been in the market for a while, especially in Japan, and they have long embraced supplements and functional foods as part of their holistic approach to beauty and it is picking up momentum in South Korea.”
Prominent examples include Japan’s Shiseido, FANCL, Pola Orbis and South Korea’s Amorepacific with its VitalBeautie brand.
There is also a growing number of Korean skincare companies that are venturing into the oral skincare space, such as Cell Fusion C with its UV care supplements.
However, examples of multinational skincare and cosmetics companies launching oral skincare or beauty-from-within products are few and far between.
“It’s primarily Asian companies driving this trend and while the bigger corporations are moving into this space and my impression is that they are doing so cautiously, they are positioning themselves early just in case the trend gains significant momentum.”
Some of the main reasons for companies exploring the beauty-from-within space include the influence of the wellness trend and recognising that there needs to be a holistic approach for beauty.
“From my conversation with these types of firms, I guess one of the main reasons that they are exploring the beauty-from-within domain is the influence of the wellness trend.
“There’s a growing understanding that beauty is holistic, it is more than just skin deep. What you consume has a direct impact on your skin’s health, which is why this approach may resonate with many consumers.
“For the bigger firms, part of their motivation is to test the waters. They want to gauge consumer interest to ensure that they are well positioned to capitalise if the trend takes off in a big way.”
Companies, however, would need to be cognisant of the types of competitors that they have if they are going into the beauty-from-within space.
This is because for beauty consumers, their options could range from the usual topical skincare products, to non or minimally invasive treatments, and beauty devices.
Beauty-from-within supplements must therefore be at their top of their game in terms of efficacy.
Listen to the podcast to find out more.
