Nobody seems to understand this, but beauty is not just a purely aesthetic question: but "inner beauty" is taking on a more literal meaning. The meaning of nutricosmeceutica.
A crazy bang
Interest in food, beverages and supplements with "beauty" benefits is reaching an all-time high.
Across the FMCG landscape, food, beverages and functional supplements are receiving tremendous attention.
Consumers seek health benefits: more energy, more relaxation, and today even more beauty. A trend born in Asia, where foods, drinks and supplements that offer "beauty from the inside" have long been popular.
Un Innova survey found that a third of Chinese consumers choose edible products that promise to support physical appearance.
The trend has more recently taken hold in other geographic regions as well.
"Beauty nutrition" to conquer the world
Vital proteins, based in the USA, offers collagen-based products and was acquired by Nestlé in June 2020, entering the Canadian market and expanding rapidly. VidaGlow, based in Australia, claims to sell one pack of its marine collagen supplement every 4 seconds, shipping (starting this month) to consumers around the world.
Overall, the global market for ingestible beauty products is worth over € 200 billion according to industry analysts at CB Insights.
Interest in nutritional products with these beauty benefits, also known as nutricosmeceuticals, has literally exploded.
What are nutricosmeceuticals used for?
Most applications focus on skin health: Most nutricosmeceutical products focus on improving the skin's appearance from the inside out.
The already strong demand for skin care products in recent years has increased. Collagen is one of the most common ingredients, while adaptogens are becoming more and more common.
The category is expanding with new beverage formats: While beauty products from the inside typically come in the form of gummy candies or vitamins, drinks are growing in popularity.
Many startups like Moon juice o water drop they are famous for powders and concentrates that mix in drinks.
And under the teeth?
Meal kits are expanding with an approach that I would call more "holistic": supplements and drinks, as mentioned, represent the largest share, but the actual foods are growing.
Startup with meal kits such as Sakura Life o Urban Remedy, offer true multi-day meal plans. Beauty is also combined with more "material" advantages such as weight control, improved metabolism and the immune system.
How will nutricosmeceutics evolve?
The overlap between health and science will continue to grow: "beauty from the inside" products will have to prove their effectiveness in order to become mainstream.
Some brands (such as Nutrafol which focuses on hair growth) exhibit clinical studies to back up their claims.
Other startups, like Sunday, which sells gummy candy to help prevent the signs of aging, have founders with medical backgrounds that bolster their credibility.
