Ewa Hudson said a crop of high profile beauty food launches in 2008 indicate that the trend really is hitting the big time. She mentioned Dove Beautiful and Vitalize from Mars and Glowelle from Nestle among the new edible and drinkable beauty products to hit US shelves last year.
Development has also carried on apace on the other side of the Atlantic. Boots recently launched Choxi+ chocolate in the UK and in Spain and Switzerland Emmi released Aloe Vera Sensitive yogurt and Beauty Case.
Essensis stumbles on formulation
Hudson told CosmeticsDesign.com that products demonstrating visible results have great potential and this was exactly where the Essensis product from Danone fell down.
Contrary to some commentators Hudson did not criticize the branding or distribution strategy but the product composition itself. She said Essensis did not deliver instant results and therefore failed to keep the attention of the consumer.
French consumer watchdog UFC-QC came to a similar conclusion last year dismissing Essensis as a mere marketing concept that has no visible effect on the skin.
Convincing consumers of benefits
Manufacturers must develop products with visible benefits or else they will never persuade consumers to embrace the expensive concept of beauty foods.
Hudson therefore predicted that there will be a shift from stand alone products to products sold in a bundle that can be eaten throughout the day to maximize results.
Looking at fresh new trends in edible beauty, the Euromonitor analyst picked out three different types of supplement that are beginning to make it onto shelves.
Sun protection from within is an idea that has developed a following in France and Hudson said it will interesting to see how these products perform in sun drenched states in the US, especially California.
She also mentioned anti-cellulite and men’s hair recovery supplements as areas of new product development but warned that like elsewhere in the beauty food sector “work has to be done on the education front”.