Cosmetics firms gaining an edge with innovation

The ongoing consumption upgrade in China is making technology-driven innovation a key competitive edge for personal care products and cosmetics makers looking to gain traction with sophisticated Chinese consumers, said industrial analysts.

"China is one of the fastest growing cosmetics markets in the world, and that trend is definitely taking place here," said Gareth Barker, president of the personal care and aroma ingredients division at DSM, a Dutch multinational.

According to Barker, Chinese consumers are different from consumers elsewhere. For example, Western people want to look browner to look healthier, whereas Chinese people and those from some other Asian countries would rather look lighter to look healthier.

While their global counterparts look for sustainable and traceable products, Chinese consumers are more keen on products with immediate effects.

In response to the varied customer needs, an Asia-Pacific regional lab was established in Shanghai three years ago in 2016, which is tasked to develop product applications, provide technology services and customized solutions for Royal DSM's cosmetics industry customers in China as well as the whole region.

"It is very important indeed. Because Chinese consumers are very sensitive to both the texture and the smell of cosmetics, we do a lot of formulation work in the lab, in order to develop, put our ingredients into formulations that we think will appeal to these consumers," said Barker.

With the regional lab, DSM is able to provide local formulas, understand customer needs and develop formulations to support this particular fast and dynamic market, he said.

"When we work with customers in the region, we usually see request here are all urgent," said Fu Yanhong, director of China for the DSM personal care and aroma ingredients unit.

According to Fu, thanks to the lab, the launch period of a project in China is three to six months, shorter than the international norm of several years.

Along with the Shanghai-based lab, DSM's personal care and aroma ingredients business operates another three regional labs in Switzerland, Brazil and the United States.

"To appeal to increasingly sophisticated and knowledgeable Chinese consumers, brands will need to prove the safety and efficacy of products through scientific means," said Laurie Du, senior beauty analyst with Mintel, a London-based global market intelligence company.

"In China, we definitely see fast efficacy in consumer needs. That's why we provide consumers and our customers with products that are safe and efficient," said Fu.

About 50 percent of DSM's personal care product portfolio is natural as defined or certified by various organizations, and the company intends to increase the number of natural ingredients further to meet the trend, according to Barker.

Personal care and aroma ingredients is currently one of the fastest growing sectors of the Dutch multinational life sciences and materials sciences company.

"We have seen double-digit growth in the last two years ... the China market will definitely grow above average as it is a very important market, and the population and economic growth in China should support the average growth rate in China," said Barker.

According to him, the China market is not only important for local companies, but also international companies that produce either in China or outside China.

Accounting for close to a quarter of all beauty and personal care launches in Asia-Pacific, anti-aging innovation continues to grow in unexpected and inventive ways, as China, South Korea and Japan take the lead in delivering creative solutions for consumers, according to Mintel.