The 2023 In-Cosmetics Global edition was a great success, with many visitors and new launches, and a great interest in the sustainability zone which I had the pleasure of moderating.
The highlight for me was the realization that the great majority of the new launches had a sustainability message attached to them. For example a specific country of origin or area for the plants used, upcycled origin materials, and nature-identicals such as Panthenol and Retinol now available from biotechnology sources and therefore plant-derived. This means biotechnology is opening the doors to many renewable molecules with eco credentials and performance.
This is aligned with the trends featured by Beautystreams at Cosmoprof 2023, which were the not-so-trashy trend (discovering the value of waste) and near and dear (thinking local means consuming mindfully), making upcycled and local ingredients very attractive to consumers today.
At the sustainability zone, we also touched on the challenges the industry faces when it comes to sustainability-related claims. Are they true? Are they really beneficial? This is because despite the great desire to do something about helping the planet, there is not complete clarity, yet great complexity because of the many variables at play. When it comes to marketing it is easy to take shortcuts or cherry-pick aspects of the product, making it black and white when in reality there are many shades of green or grey if you prefer. A recent study by the European Commission (1) highlights 53% of green claims give vague, misleading, or unfounded information and 40% of claims have no supporting evidence. This has triggered the European Commission to file a proposal for a directive on green claims, whose essence is to have evidence behind any eco claim made.
This means working with raw materials suppliers that have a clear and tangible sustainability strategy is not only a trend but a necessity in a competitive and increasingly regulated market place. In fact this year I noticed several suppliers preferred to talk about their overall approach to sustainability rather than being specific about an ingredient. For example Cargill talked about regenerative agriculture and its benefits in terms of land and water, people and climate; Lubrizol shared its sustainability journey with beautiful infographics showing how they use LCAs to minimize their operations and ingredients impact; Symrise talked about their corporate sustainability credentials (Ecovadis, Sedex, CDP A list) as well as their approach to sourcing renewable ingredients and using green technologies following green chemistry principles. Another interesting presentation was by AAK showing a holistic approach to CO2 emissions reductions. Normally one would focus on the supply chain and find the critical control points and act accordingly. In this case, AAK decided to empower the local communities involved in the shea butter cropping, by teaching them how to make their own rocket stoves, far more efficient than the traditional ones. This leads not only to a reduction of wood used in cooking and smoke, but also to more time available to women.
It is rather impressive how the industry is responding to sustainability and the many ways to go about it, along with the partnerships being generated as a result of this. This is a very exciting time for our industry. The raw materials suppliers are providing formulators with lots of innovative ingredients to step up on the journey to sustainable beauty and respond to consumer trends with validation data to stand out from fake eco products and to comply with upcoming eco claims regulations.
Resources
1. https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/circular-economy/green-claims_en
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