Nobody seems to understand it, but beauty is not just a purely aesthetic question: but "inner beauty" is taking on a more literal meaning. The meaning of nutricosmeceutics.
A crazy bang
Interest in food, drinks 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 within" have been popular for some time.
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 nutrients” 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 appearance of the skin 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 within typically come in the form of gummies or vitamins, drinks are increasing 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 define as more "holistic": supplements and drinks, as mentioned, represent the largest portion, but actual foods are growing.
Startup with meal kits such as Sakura Life o Urban Remedy, offer real multi-day meal plans. They also combine beauty with more "material" advantages such as weight control, improvement of metabolism and immune system.
How will nutricosmeceutics evolve?
The overlap between health and science will continue to grow: “beauty from within” products will have to prove their effectiveness 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 a gummy to help prevent the signs of aging, have founders with medical backgrounds that bolster their credibility.
