The first Asian edition of the Sustainable
Cosmetics Summit drew to a successful close, bringing together 120 delegates
from across the Asia-Pacific region. Taking place in Hong Kong on Nov. 7 to 8,
the focal themes of the summit were the marketing and technical issues related
to sustainable cosmetics. Major discussions centered on greenwashing and
consumer confusion, the lucrative Chinese market, certification and green
formulations.
The conference opened with a personal keynote
on "Building a Sustainable Future" by Leigh Kite, general manager of
Personal Care at Comvita. Quoting official statistics that cancer was the
second biggest cause of death in New Zealand, she said chemicals in the
environment were potentially responsible. According to Kite, natural and
organic cosmetics were the way forward, as they do not contain contentious
chemicals. She stated health and wellness was a key part of her company whose
ethos is to "keep people well"; Comvita has been marketing a range of
honey-based cosmetics since 2007.
A raft of sustainability initiatives were
highlighted in the opening session of the summit (Sustainability
Best-Practices). Amarjit Sahota, president of Organic Monitor, urged beauty
companies go beyond reducing negatives and create positive impacts on the
environment and social communities. Rene T. Co explained how Procter &
Gamble takes a holistic view to sustainability by the use of product life cycle
assessments. Since implementing its sustainability plan in Asia in 2007, it has
reduced its CO2 emissions by 36 percent, solid waste by 77 percent, water usage
by 32 percent and energy usage by 28 percent. Procter & Gamble plans to
expand the use of sugar-based plastics to Pantene products in Asia.
Juno Kano from BASF Japan started the second
session (Formulating with Green Ingredients) with a paper on surfactant systems
for natural and organic cosmetics. With growing use of agricultural raw
materials in cosmetics, Jari Alander from AAK highlighted the challenges of
this major development. According to Alander, base ingredients have the highest
sustainability impact of cosmetics ingredients of which vegetable oils play an
important role.
Dr. Alain Khaiat from Seers Consulting
highlighted the options available to formulators looking at using natural
ingredients for skin whitening in Asia. He explained how ingredients, such as
kojic acid, ascorbic acid and retinol, can have skin whitening applications in
cosmetics. The second session ended with a panel discussion chaired by Croda on
technical issues associated with natural cosmetics; lively discussions covered
alternatives to parabens, the potential use of traditional Chinese herbs in
organic cosmetics, and how to avoid animal testing to access the Chinese
cosmetics market.
More debate continued in the third session:
Marketing and Distribution Innovations. Gordon Chalmers, co-founder of Jasmin
Skincare, highlighted how the Australian company has been successful in
introducing organic skincare to Chinese consumers. Describing market entry
barriers as "the great wall of China," he stated the company had to
re-formulate its products and re-think its strategy when entering the Chinese
market. He highlighted the vast potential, stating the spate of food scares and
distrust in local products made many Chinese consumers willing to pay a premium
for green personal care products. He also highlighted the pitfalls, especially
instances of fraud and passing off. According to Chalmers, "intellectual
property does not always translate into Chinese!"
Dr. Prahallad Maddi Archana from Himalaya
Healthcare gave an introduction to Ayurveda and its use in cosmetic products.
Lorievelle Valeriano from Panpuri explored the potential of organic products in
the spa channel. According to Valeriano, Thailand was a hotbed of product
development since it was the spa capital of the world. Just Life, the leading
chain of organic food shops in Malaysia, shared its experiences in marketing
natural and organic beauty products. The company stated all new products are
trialed and voted by its staff before listed in its stores.
Preceding the conference, two interactive
workshops were hosted by Organic Monitor. Judi Beerling, head of technical
research, emphasized the major technical and formulation issues associated with
sustainable cosmetics. Some of the alternatives to surfactants, emulsifiers and
parabens were discussed, as well as the certification options. The second
workshop (Business Opportunities in the Global Natural Cosmetics Market)
highlighted the major market developments and competitive trends. The high
incidence of false marketing claims, mislabeling and fraud were shown as key
challenges for natural and organic cosmetics in Asia. With the absence of
standards, the workshop leader urged retailers to become more active in
screening and selecting pure natural and organic cosmetic brands. Although most
sales were from the European and North American regions, the Asian natural
cosmetics market was reporting higher growth rates. With competitive stakes
rising, newcomers to the ‘developed markets’ were advised to take a
segmentation approach to market entry.
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