Nutricosmetics industry targets ethnic consumer

SalonWeb, an online provider of hair care products has created an innovative range of dietary supplements called Fast Grow that promotes healthy and fast growing hair for the African American consumer.

With major cosmetic companies adopting new product lines to cover the growing consumer need for 'beauty from within', it seemed it was only a matter of time before the more niche consumer was targeted.

This has resulted in innovative products from smaller companies emerging on the market.

The company carried out market research with its existing customers and established what were the growing trends within this target audience.

Fast Grow creater Mike Trobee said "Having been in the business of successfully formulating hair care products for years, our African American customers were telling us that while they loved our products-black hair is different".​

The supplements are created using a mixture of vitamins, minerals and amino acids and retail from $14.99, and is hoped to make an impact within the ethnic hair care industry.

A recent study by Kline & Company found that the global nutricosmetics market was valued at $1bn, a figure the company says is set to double over the next five-year period with the Euromonitor report stating it has already grown by 50 per cent between 2002 and 2006.

According to a 2006 survey by The Freedonia Group, the ethnic market is estimated to hit 5.4 per cent per year until 2010 to give a projected market value of $7.6bn.

Although African-Americans only constitute around 12 percent of the nation's population, they spend twice as much money on hair care products and substantially more on skin care than the average American.

Many cosmetics giants such as L'Oreal, Procter & Gamble and Shiseido have already capitalized on the trend and created nutricosmetic ranges, with some endorsing their products by collaborating with celebrity doctors such as Howard Murad and Nicholas Perricone.

However, the company is amongst the first to target the more niche markets and has created a shampoo that is said to compliment the hair growth affects of the dietary supplement, called Accelerate Shampoo, made with Emu Oil.