Younger consumers will lead beauty foods growth says Datamonitor

Food and drink products sporting beauty claims have been tipped as the ​growth area to watch but product launches in the arena have not been met with as much success as predicted.

Datamonitor has recently released a report on the sector investigating the inhibitors and opportunities in oral beauty products and suggests that, unlike with topical cosmetics, focusing on the baby boomer generation may not be the key.

According to Mark Whalley, analyst at the UK-headquartered market research company, although older consumers were originally thought to be driving the sector, the actual situation is more complicated.

Anti-ageing foods and drinks​

The current predominant product claim in the sector, as for many topical beauty products, is anti-ageing.

Although, anti-ageing claims are likely to resonate with older consumers, Whalley claims that the pressure to look good eases with age.

Mid lifers (those aged between 35 and 49) are the least happy about their age and share the significant pressure felt by the younger demographic to look good. Contrastingly, those above 50 are more comfortable with their age and feel less of a pressure to look good, he said.

“This suggests that this middle demographic is most susceptible to anti-ageing claims as they come to terms with being in a transitional period between youth and old age,”​ he told CosmeticsDesign-Europe.com.

In addition, he cited Datamonitor consumer survey data that suggests younger consumers are more receptive than older ones to the idea of ingredient fortification in general and oral beauty in particular.

Although the older consumer may be interested in supplements that claim to have beauty benefits, it is the younger consumer who will be interested in beauty foods and drinks, he said, and this is where the growth opportunities lie.

Preventative ageing​

Whalley also said that anti-ageing is a potentially successful claim but needs to be handled carefully.

“It is becoming more common to see anti-ageing claims positioned as ‘preventative ageing’. This gives the expression a more positive slant in that it is not necessarily implying that the consumer is old, and suggests a relevance to everybody,”​ he said.