Nutraceuticals sit on the boundary between food and cosmetics leaving their identity ambiguous and ideal position on the shop floor open to debate.
Nestle decided that beauty shelves rather than supermarket aisles would be the best location for its new drinkable cosmetic product called Glowelle.
Prestige beauty consumers
The product is the brainchild of Kimberly Cooper who told CosmeticsDesign.com that Nestle is going after prestige beauty consumers.
To reach them, Nestle decided to begin selling Glowelle at luxury retailer Neiman Marcus in the US where the drink will be sold alongside conventional cosmetics.
Some other nutraceutical products have been launched on supermarket shelves but Cooper said they have to compete with other big food and drink brands in front of consumers that are not looking for a cosmetic.
The product itself is formulated with vitamins, phtyo-nutrients, botanical and fruit extracts that are combined to fight the signs of aging from the inside.
Nutraceutical meets beauty
Cooper said their research showed that US consumers were most attracted to a nutraceutical product that offers one simple beauty solution and is made with natural ingredients.
They therefore developed two flavours; natural jasmine and natural pomegranate lychee. To make the drinks as convenient as possible for fast moving beauty consumers they are available both as a juice and in powder form.
Cooper said consumers were also concerned about the nutritional value of beauty foods and drinks so they kept the calorie content down to 100 in the juice and 50 in the powder.
Nestle bought into the idea
Cooper pitched the idea of a beauty juice to Nestle two and a half years ago when beauty food and drink was only really available in Japan.
She received funding from Nestle, where she was working as a marketing executive, and put all her energies into the development of the Glowelle brand.
The beauty drinks hit Neiman Marcus stores two weeks ago and plans are afoot to expand the availability of the products and further develop Glowelle as a brand that addresses beauty and wellness holistically.
Although Glowelle is consumed as a drink, it falls into the dietary supplement category and is regulated as such because of the high potency of its ingredients.