New skin care player to bring rice bran-based product line to US consumers
Believed to be one of the first lines of its kind to hit the market in North America, it has been developed using rice bran and derivative products in the company’s US segment plants, as well as rice bran oil manufactured at its Irgovel facility in Petolas, Brazil.
The line, which was developed at the company’s Healthy Natural development facility in Irving Texas, will include hand and skin creams, anti-aging serum, exofoliants and moisturizers and will be marketed on the back of both its natural-based composition, as well as the active properties of rice bran for skin care.
RiceBran Technologies, which is focused on rice bran-derived food ingredients, recently bought the Healthy Natural business after it saw a potential way of entering the cosmetics category by aligning itself to a player with 20 years of experience developing and manufacturing natural cosmetic and personal care lines.
Tapping into the demand for nutrient rich products
"During the last decade, the natural products industry has seen nutritional ingredients rich in anti-oxidants and other micronutrients migrate into cosmetics and personal care formulas, creating an emerging "nutricosmetics" marketplace,” said Mark McKnight, senior vice president of contract manufacturing at RiceBran Technologies.
“Rice bran contains many high value ingredients, including gamma oryzanols, ceramides, vitamin E and UV absorbing compounds that help protect and maintain skin health by promoting hydration and elasticity."
Rice bran-based products have a long history in the Asia Pacific market, particularly in Japan, where women have incorporated such products in to their beauty regimes for many years, but now the company is aiming is to raise awareness and the popularity of this ingredient with beauty consumers in North America.
Major new step into cosmetics and personal care
“When we made the decision to acquire Healthy Natural, we believed that the addition of superior formulation capabilities would not only further our market penetration in nutritional and functional foods but would also enable us to move into other high growth areas such as the nutricosmetics and personal care markets,” said RiceBran Technologies CEO & President John Short.
“With this launch, we are taking a major step forward in that direction. This represents a significant revenue growth opportunity for our company in 2015 and for many years to come."
The company says it is currently working on a series of distribution agreements that would see its products hitting store shelves in the US towards the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015.
