How beauty brands can navigate the new green reality

Understanding Mintel’s 2024 World Shopper Pattern ‘New Inexperienced Actuality’ within the context of magnificence and private care in Southeast Asia.

In SEA, the sweetness and private care trade is catching up on sustainability, as seen by means of product launches with moral and environmental claims rising by 66% within the final 5 years between October 2018 to September 2023. Nonetheless, shoppers cite excessive prices and issues about trustworthiness as among the many boundaries that discourage them from buying eco-friendly magnificence/grooming merchandise. As an growing variety of ‘inexperienced’ magnificence merchandise change into out there to shoppers, manufacturers have the chance to reinforce their environmental consciousness and talk the importance of their sustainability choices.

By its very nature, magnificence consumerism is all about consumption. How can manufacturers strike a stability between the consumption of magnificence and private care merchandise and being sustainable as they attempt to strengthen client confidence?

For one, magnificence manufacturers can set up pointers, guidelines, and targets on their journey towards sustainability and talk these correctly to shoppers by means of universally user-friendly platforms.

For example, American magnificence model REN Skincare made a Zero Waste Pledge in 2018 to solely produce packaging designed to be recyclable, containing recycled supplies or being reusable by the top of 2021. In 2022, the model introduced the achievement of that pledge. Updates and initiatives are posted on its Clear Ideas weblog. 

To keep away from being seen as greenwashing by shoppers, magnificence manufacturers ought to speak in confidence to checks and auditing by exterior specialists to make sure accountability and traceability. Magnificence and private care manufacturers ought to research their current merchandise and manufacturing chain, and perceive the place they fail or succeed when it comes to sustainability.

Price can also be an necessary consideration. As an alternative of merely decreasing costs, manufacturers can talk the worth of selecting the sustainable possibility the place doable and the affect this may have on the local weather disaster. 

Because of the pandemic and international conflicts,, worldwide sourcing has change into dearer, in flip, driving product prices up, whether or not or not it’s sustainably produced. To fight this, magnificence manufacturers can use domestically produced substances and packaging to cut back sourcing prices whereas supporting native companies. This could possibly be notably efficient for SEA magnificence gamers, the place homegrown magnificence manufacturers have already got a robust presence and id. 

Moreover, manufacturers can enhance client confidence by supporting their native communities. Within the Philippines, blk cosmetics launched its Common line of merchandise made for “completely anybody and everybody”, with shades meant to match varied pores and skin tones and kinds. The marketing campaign can also be inclusive for women and men.

Manufacturers may design their labels to simply present and share extra data. In Spain, Fairy Max Poder Refill has a front-of-pack “85% much less plastic” message and an eye catching recarga (refillable) banner.

With nearly all of SEA shoppers accessing social networks by way of their smartphones, magnificence manufacturers can share product formulation and ingredient modifications on digital platforms. In China, social media platform Xiaohongshu and skincare model Yoseido collectively launched movies to share your complete technique of birch water (Yoseido’s star ingredient) manufacturing, overlaying harvesting, processing and mixing.

One concrete means for shoppers to know what a sustainable product is by highlighting progressive and sustainable substances.

Mitr Phol, Asia’s largest sugar and bio-energy producer, launched two skincare merchandise constructed from sugarcane. This growth created added worth for the trade and helped to cut back sugarcane waste.

In the long run, speaking the analysis and energy put into attaining sustainable operations is vital to constructing belief between manufacturers and shoppers.

Magnificence manufacturers have the chance to change into educators and dependable sources of knowledge for shoppers, fostering model loyalty within the course of. By educating shoppers in regards to the prices of not addressing the local weather disaster and aligning campaigns or merchandise with native wants, manufacturers show their dedication to understanding the market. 

Utilising domestically produced substances and packaging not solely reduces sourcing prices but in addition helps native companies. Furthermore, manufacturers can set up client confidence by implementing clear pointers, fostering transparency and leveraging digital platforms for engagement. By these actions, magnificence manufacturers can strike a stability between magnificence consumption and decreasing waste, encouraging extra shoppers to hitch their sustainability journey.

Uncover the most recent sustainability developments in magnificence and private care on the Mintel Retailer. If you’re inquisitive about studying extra about this subject, please contact us right now.