Report highlights regional differences in the adoption of natural personal care

The natural C&T trend is impacting different regions in significantly different ways, according to a report by market research company Kline. While the sector is enjoying steady double-digit growth worldwide, Kline’s Natural Personal Care 2009 report revealed Brazil to provide the most attractive opportunities for natural personal care brands, being the fastest growing country for natural cosmetics – up 15% since 2008 – as well as the second largest single country market for naturals in the world.

The report also targets Asia as another area with rich potential for marketers; the region commands a 40% share of the global natural personal care market and has a strong heritage of Ayurvedic and herbal medicine, which means that consumers are familiar with the principles of natural remedies. In Europe the natural personal care landscape continues to be shaped by the increasing demands of certification bodies (Klein predicts that the COSMOS standard will present a particularly good opportunity for international brands at the high end of the naturals scale) while relatively modest growth in the US naturals market is nevertheless remarkable when compared to the C&T market as a whole, say the report's authors.

However, ingredient analysis found an overwhelming majority of personal care products with natural marketing to be ‘naturally-inspired’ as opposed to genuinely natural. According to the report, consumer differentiation between the two categories is particularly poor in Brazil and Asia where the market is led by manufacturers who are more committed to their profits than their natural positioning.

Colour cosmetics is said to be a booming product sector within natural C&T with Klein citing Shiseido’s acquisition of mineral make-up pioneer Bare Escentuals as an example of the category’s growing popularity in Asia. In the US meanwhile hair care is the fastest growing category, driven by recent advances in natural alternatives to traditional synthetic surfactants and polymers.

The report concludes that the naturals trend will continue to push forward over the next five years before reaching a critical mass of acceptance and demand until it ceases to be a trend and becomes a way of life.