Givaudan outlines three huge opportunities for biotech in 2021

The green and clean trends dominate the space as a reflection of the urgency to create a more sustainable industry and wider world.

“Consumers have high expectations of brands,” ​Pauline Martin, Operational Marketing & Communications Manager, Givaudan, told CosmeticsDesign-USA. “They are ready, and they know the need to reduce their impact on the environment​.”

According to Givaudan’s CMI study, consumers are eager to know more about their ingredients and care about their climate impact in general, mainly seeking information on how brands obtain ingredients and proof they can confirm that the related carbon impact is low. “They, therefore, expect companies that offer them "clean" products to pay attention to this,” ​said Martin.

3 huge opportunities for biotech ​

In the coming years, we can expect to see consumers become increasingly confident in beauty biotechnology and actively look for cosmetics solutions that showcase the sophistication, innovation and nature-mimicking capabilities of biotechnology. As it gains traction, Givaudan takes us through the leading avenues for progress in beauty biotechnology.

1. Effective varieties present​

Utilizing biotechnology enables beauty brands and the entire industry to offer more sustainable and equally effective alternatives to hero ingredients that are well known to consumers such as hyaluronic acid and bisabolol.

“We have been working on this for years and continue to do so in order to expand our portfolio in this area and offer even more choices,”​ confirms Martin.

2. Real sustainable alternatives possible​

“Consumers want even more products related to clean beauty,”​ said Martin. While consumers are also looking for natural products, their choice is not limited exclusively to natural brands and products that market themselves as natural.

“We now know, thanks to our CMI study, that consumers are interested in natural products but also aware that they must pay more attention to the ingredients that compose them while also looking at the impact that these products have on the planet in a global way,”​ she added. Consumers today are increasingly aware that natural products are accessible. “But if they are causing deforestation or any other form of ecological disasters, the interest is lost,”​ said Martin.

Therefore, there is a significant opportunity for biotechnology to meet all these consumer expectations by offering answers that go beyond naturalness.

3. Education and guidance needed​

Increased awareness, reliable information and credible insights based on education is crucial for consumers to get onboard with beauty biotechnology. It is vital that the industry provides this, Martin said, as currently: “They still associate chemistry with synthetics.”​

Givaudan’s CMI study reveals that 77% of global consumers are interested in using a cosmetic product derived from biotechnology once they have had more information about it. In addition, 80% would even be willing to pay more for a cosmetic product if it is derived from biotechnology.