Datamonitor defines beauty foods as foods, beverages or supplements that deliver benefits to consumers’ appearances, such as anti-aging.
Often referred to as ‘nutricosmetics’ or ‘cosmeceuticals’, oral beauty products sold in the US were valued at $1.06bn in 2008, said Datamonitor. This is a significant increase on 2003 when the market was worth $579.3m.
Looking forwards, Datamonitor forecasts that the market will be worth $1.55bn in 2013.
Non-essential
“This reflects a growing consumer acceptance that food, beverages and supplements can have beautifying properties,” said Mark Whalley, consumer markets analyst at Datamonitor.
However, he added that this category is particularly susceptible to taking a hit from the tight economic environment.
“Potential growth could be stunted by the high price of the products in question. The longer the recession goes on for, the worse it will look for the market, given the fact that very few consumers regard oral beauty products as ‘essential’ at the moment,” he told NutraIngredients-USA.com in an e-mail.
A recent report from Datamonitor, entitled Seeking beauty through Nutrition, examined global consumer attitudes and behavior towards oral beauty products.
Need and awareness
In general, the market researcher said it findings highlight the “consumer need, rising awareness, and growing availability of such products, making it interesting to players in the functional product arena”.
“The entire concept promotes the notion of ‘beauty from within’ (or, put more simply, ‘you are what you eat’). Many understand that drinking water can have a hydrating effect on the skin, but increasingly formulations can have positive effects on other areas of the body such as people’s hair or nails too,” writes the analyst.
As part of the report, consumers around the world were asked how much they agree with the statement ‘I am conscious of the link between diet and appearance’.
Although the majority of consumers in all countries agreed with this statement, the US came in the bottom five out of 15 countries surveyed. Only 66 percent of US consumers agreed that diet affects appearance, compared to 88 percent in Russia, 85 percent in India and 79 percent in Brazil.