Click through to read some of the articles in the "Trends and Emerging Markets" hot topics category.
Men might be from Mars and women from Venus, but when it comes to natural cosmetics, it could be outdated to suggest that women shop differently than men.
Their purchasing behavior is very similar, with both motivated by environmental concerns and neither deterred by price, finds a study of cosmetics users in India.
Both male and female consumers liked purchasing cosmetics made of natural ingredients and were more inclined to purchase natural products if they knew that doing so would benefit the environment, reported Anusha Tengli et al. in the journal Cosmetics.
“The results show that there was not much difference in male and female consumers’ purchase intention and purchase behavior towards natural cosmetics,” Tengli et al. said. “Both male and female consumers had a positive attitude towards cosmetics made of natural ingredients.”
SuperOrdinary paved its way in beauty helping US brands move into the Chinese market, and as Honest Co begins that journey lessons can be learned by the industry.
The clean beauty-focused brand announced in September the company would be expanding into the Chinese market with the help of SuperOrdinary, which has guided more than 30 brands through similar moves into China and other markets in Southeast Asia.
CEO and founder of SuperOrdinary Julian Reis said after being closely involved in the rise of social commerce in China, the company aims to be a partner for brands it determines viable in Asian markets.
Before moving forward with a brand into foreign markets Reis said it’s important that a company has the appropriate corporate infrastructure to withstand organizational stresses like cash flow and demand planning.
Biotechnology firm Genomatica announced last week that Japanese giant Kao Corporation is joining a venture to scale alternatives to palm oil.
According to a press release, Kao is joining as a founding member of the project to scale up plant-based alternatives to palm kernel oil. The announcement adds to the previously announced $120 million investment from Unilever.
Implementation of the Genomatica-developed alternative could decrease the carbon footprint of palm-derived ingredients by up to 50%, according to the release.
“Kao’s investment in this venture will make possible the provision of new eco-chemical solutions and represents an opportunity for Kao to play an even bigger role in helping consumers, customers, industry and society to realize decarbonization and make the shift to a resource-circulating economy,” Masahiro Katayose, Kao Senior Executive Officer in charge of Chemical Business said in the release.
Stress relieving scent is a cornerstone of the holistic skincare movement, and one research team wants to develop a method to quantify its efficacy.
A research team out of Germany and Switzerland, Arielle Springer et al., recently published research in Cosmetics exploring a standardized procedure to objectively measure the effectiveness of stress-relief aromatic actives.
Transparency Market Research estimates the global health and wellness market will hit $6.94 trillion by 2031, propelled by growth in multifunctional personal care products like skincare and hand care.
Especially after COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, personal care brands have included stress-relieving smells to step into that wellness market.
The world has seen massive supply chain interruptions over the past few years, and Euromonitor says industries may be facing more challenges.
Euromonitor recently released a video outlining four threats to the global supply chain and what they will mean in the short and long term.
Industrial insights manager at Euromonitor Justinas Liuimia said the manufacturing sector has made recoveries from the pandemic as factors like investment, production capacity and supply flow bounce back.
“There are still many risk factors that are beyond the control of companies and this will continue to put pressure on global supply chains,” Liuimia said.
