According to analysts Transparency Market Research, global demand for organic personal care products was is expected to reach $13.2 billion by 2018, growing at a CAGR of 9.6%.
This growth means green ingredients are making their way into personal care applications across the board, which in turn is raising the many technical and sustainability concerns which the summit will consider.
Green cosmetics
Recent hurdles for the industry when it comes to going green have centered on technical challenges within product development.
“One of these is simply having the knowledge of what ingredients classify as natural / naturally derived, where to find them and how to use them effectively,” Organic Monitor’s Judi Beerling told CosmeticsDesign.com USA.
Sustainability and corporate social responsibility are now major drivers in the industry’s organics interest, with the green focus now widening from natural ingredients to include ethical sourcing and social accountability.
“The days of natural or organic for the sake of making such marketing claims seem to be drawing to a close,” continued the research firm’s head of technical research.
“So not only is the ‘naturalness’ of ingredients important but companies are also becoming concerned about a multitude of other issues.”
The conference
The two-day conference will explore green concerns in product development from sourcing to retail across five sessions. A CEO roundtable and talks on green materials, their environmental impacts and green actives for cosmetics products will all feature.
Key US brands, such as Aveda and Seventh Generation, will present papers on sustainability, while featured speakers will consider online commerce, and how green brands utilize mobile apps and social media platforms to strengthen customer relationships.
The theme confirms industry focus on naturals and organics, and coincides with the recent announcement of a new green ingredients award by industry trade exposition in-cosmetics.
The CosmeticsDesign team will be on the ground in May, reporting on all the ins and outs of the summit.
More details can be found here.