Cosmetic food - the next nutraceuticals?
Nestlé and the cosmetics firm L'Oreal, is launching its first
product this month in selected markets. Are we likely to see this
'cosmetic food' sector take off?
Laboratoires Innéov, the new joint venture between Nestlé and L'Oreal, is launching its first product this month in selected markets.
The nutritional supplement, called Innéov Firmness, contains lacto-lycopene, vitamin C and soy isoflavones and is designed for use by women over 40 to restore firmness to the skin. Lacto-lycopene was developed by Nestle Research, which claims that it has made lycopene more readily absorbable.
First presented at the European Dermatology Congress in Prague in October 2002, Innéov Firmness will likely be the subject of debate, as it launches in Germany, Belgium, France, Spain and Portugal.
Research analyst Lyndsey Greig, from Frost & Sullivan, suggests in a recent article that this could be the next phase of nutraceutical development. With an increasingly mature food and beverage market, this presents a way of differentiating products, notes Greig. And the ageing demographic of many developed countries certainly offers considerable potential.
The Inneov business will draw on both the growing demand for skin products designed to retain youthfulness and the growing market for dietary supplements. Greig points out that 'one-a-day' supplements designed to promote healthy hair, nail and skin are growing in popularity, while Inneov itself claims that nutritional supplements represent a market with strong potential: 15 per cent of European women are today regular consumers of nutritional supplements, and the rates of growth of this market range from 7 to 30 per cent depending on the country, it claims.
However there could be pitfalls for food companies moving into this area, warns the Frost & Sullivan article. Ethical issues could cause confusion over the labelling of any of these products.
"Although specific health claims would not be permitted, at least initially, manufacturers would probably be able to suggest that their products 'may promote' some beneficial effect. However, as the supplements industry has sometimes found to its cost, avoiding specific health claims does not always prevent attacks from the media and the public if your product does not do what is suggested," writes Greig.
Identifying the most suitable sales channels may also pose a challenge. Greig believes that cosmetic food products will probably largely suit a launch into the general food sector, including supermarkets, who have the ability to support new products. However, other options are open to manufacturers, such as a small-scale launch into health food stores and large chemists.
The article also highlights the extensive competition in this area from both pharmaceuticals companies and cosmetics groups - well-established industries with huge research and development budgets. "Food industry participants could do well to consider joint ventures with companies from these other sectors, thus avoiding some of the potential competition," suggests Greig.
Nestlé has already dipped its toes into the market with a fat-free yoghurt, 'Molico Beauty', containing aloe, launched in Brazil. And there have been some US launches in this area too. But how long will it take European food industry to catch on to the new market area?
