Organic Health and Beauty: Not Quite Mainstream
by Christina Lee on January 9th, 2009
Despite the enthusiasm of their manufacturers, consumers are still not buying into organic health and beauty care products, a study says.
TABS Group surveyed 1,000 consumers to find what they call a “significant gap between hype and reality of consumer purchase behavior” regarding organic products, including food as well as health and beauty care products.
Less than 40 percent of them purchased from major organic categories over the last six months, according to Kurt Jetta, TABS Group’s president and founder.
Consumers were most likely to purchase organic fresh fruit and vegetables. On the other hand, they were only 5 percent likely to purchase organic skin care products and 3 percent likely to buy organic cosmetics.
Jetta also argues that retailers investing heavily into the organic products trend will see a poor return. In the meantime, the development of organic products is still producing a buzz in the health and beauty care industry, after Estee Lauder’s Origins debuted in 1990 after L’Oreal acquired Sanoflore and The Body Shop in 2006.
On Dec. 18, Women’s Wear Daily awarded Physicians Formula’s Organic wear cosmetics with its “Breakthrough Product of the Year” award, in the mass market color cosmetics category.
“We are very pleased that Women’s Wear Daily has chosen to recognize the first-to-market originality of Organic wear,” said Ingrid Jackel, Physician Formula’s CEO.
The publication also reported Monday that L’Occitane en Provence, after long producing natural skin care products, will release its first organic facial skin care products in April. The five items in the Organic Olive Oil Cream Based Care include cleansing foam and milk, a masque, a moisturizer and a toning mist.
Rona Berg, once a beauty writer for The New York Times, created Organic Beauty magazine after noticing a rising concern from consumers regarding the ingredients in their cosmetics.
“We are launching Organic Beauty because we believe that going green is no longer just a trend,” the magazine’s first “Editor’s Letter” reads. The magazine debuted on Dec. 30.
Though the worth of the natural and organic cosmetics industry grew up to $7 million in 2007, today’s consumers may prioritize the use of natural ingredients differently than those of the past.
“Though organic items may offer some enticing benefits, at the end of the day, today’s consumers care more about price, and organic items normally cost a good deal more than their non-organic counterparts,” said Retailing Today in its analysis.
Consumers are more than 70 percent likely to buy such counterparts, according to the TABS Group study.