Dairy boosts growing beauty foods market
drink products, which is expected to grow and diversify over
the coming years.
The nutraceutical trend has begun to establish itself in 2007 with beauty food and drink products, from teas to marshmallows, being launched at an accelerating rate. In Europe, dairy is leading the way with beauty foods proving particularly popular in image conscious Mediterranean countries. In February 2007, Danone launched Essensis on the European market, a beauty yoghurt which is fortified with Omega 6, antioxidants and probiotics. Danone spokesperson Sandrine Fossard told CosmeticsDesign-Europe.com that the brand was initially launched in Spain but was then rolled out in Italy and France. Dairy products are natural contenders for the beauty food wave because they are rich in beauty enhancing vitamins and minerals and consumers are used to them being marketed with specific life enhancing claims, such as improved digestion. Dairy products with beauty claims are performing particularly well in Spain where UHT, which is easily fortified with beauty enhancing ingredients, dominates the milk market. Diana Dodson from Euromonitor said the strength of the popularity of beauty foods in Spain can also be explained by the popularity of fortified foods in the country. It boasts the third highest per capita consumption of fortified foods in the world. Given also the high priority that Spanish women place on looks, the country looks set to be a key market for the growing number of beauty food manufacturers. However, Spain has some way to go before it catches up with Japan, which is the most developed nutraceutical market in the world. Explaining the Japanese dominance, Euromonitor analyst Eleni Grammenou told CosmeticsDesign.com: "The rise in self medication and the popularity of alternative medicine helped to move interest towards beauty supplements, beverages and foods claiming to enhance beauty naturally and from within." The Japanese beauty food market contains some unusual products such collagen-filled marshmallows, which confectioner Eiwa launched with little success on the cynical UK market, according to Euromonitor.
