Time for certification and ensured safety in natural & organic as market grows

23-Jan-2013 - Last updated on 14-Mar-2017 at 14:02 GMT

US personal care manufacturer Herbalix has urged for more certification of ingredients used in products, particularly as consumers become more aware and the market for natural & organic continues to grow.

There has been confusion and debate over the certification of ingredients in the industry for some time now and as the organic personal care sector becomes the fastest growing area according to Mintel, and is projected to outperform conventional products soon, Herbalix’s Mike Fessler believes now is the time to act.

"Consumers are showing more and more concerns about all the harmful ingredients in personal care products,” says the company’s founding partner and vice president.

"Our industry is self-regulated when it comes to organic certification, although we are now seeing more in the way of certification, more strict standards for retailers as well as new government legislation to protect consumers. The presence of true certification and standards is still needed."

Consumer confusion

The United States currently has the largest market for natural and organic personal care products worldwide, with consumer demand continuing to rise due to concerns about the possible dangers of cosmetics and toiletries containing synthetic chemicals.

There is also consumer confusion within this industry issue simply because many consumers cannot distinguish legitimate natural and organic products from those that have been falsely labeled.

Although industry standards adoption among manufacturers is on the rise, there are still relatively few major brands that certify their products, and with growing popularity of these products, this issue needs to be addressed.

Opportunity

The growth of organic products also presents tremendous opportunities for manufacturers and retailers in the natural and organic skin care channel.

Additionally the natural personal care segment continues to remain undeterred by the global economic slowdown, with Mintel indicating that natural products are now finally becoming more affordable.

According to market researcher Kline, the natural personal care category has been experiencing double-digit growth since 2005, and this market will continue to witness double-digit growth, to exceed $6 billion in 2015.

Manufacturers' sales in the natural segment are expected to increase by a CAGR of 11.2 percent to reach $6.6 billion in 2015, up from $3,891 million in 2010.

Skin care had 42.1 percent share in the total Personal Care sales in 2010 with the natural hair care product segment at 12.7 percent market share.

Likewise, Packaged Facts has forecasted that the U.S. consumer market for natural and organic skin care, hair care and makeup-which during 2005-2010 boomed 61 percent to $7.7 billion, but could top $11.0 billion by the year 2016.