Botanical actives consumption on the rise in personal care segment

LITTLE FALLS, N.J. Consumers' desire for performance coupled with natural ingredients is boosting botanical actives consumption in the personal care segment, according to recent research by consulting and research firm Kline & Company.

According to the report, dubbed "Specialty Actives and Active Delivery Systems for Personal Care 2008: U.S. and Europe," botanicals consumption is growing at 8%, outstripping growth of other specialty actives with average growth of 5.4%.

The market for specialty actives and delivery systems in North America and Europe is about $840 million, according to Kline, with specialty actives in the Europe market accounting for the lions' share of the markets. Botanical actives are growing in share within the specialty actives segment in both the European and U.S. markets. "Labeled" actives are showing quick growth, at up to 20% a year.

"Today's consumer wants not only natural products, but also performance," stated Nikola Matic, senior analyst, chemicals and material industry at Kline. "These two requirements were regarded as contradictory a few years ago, but highly substantiated botanical products developed recently brought new solutions to formulators."

In addition, as the populations within the United States and Europe age the anti-aging segment will see a boost in botanical consumption, Kline stated. In order to compete, botanical suppliers with existing formulations are promoting their products as more effective at lower levels when compared with, for example, vitamins, making the botanical actives comparable in price on a cost-performance basis.