Demand patterns may shift but looks still count

Today more people live alone than ever before. Changing demographic structures, such as longer life expectancies and growing urban populations, will shape the need for innovations in Health & Beauty packaging in the future.

Smaller households, smaller packs
Cities are getting bigger and the urban lifestyle is becoming more commonplace. Greater numbers of working women, longer and more flexible working hours and a more mobile workforce have created a need for innovations in flexible and 'on-the-go' packaging. Today, many older consumers live alone, but also young adults increasingly live by themselves, continuing in education for longer and choosing to marry and settle down later in life.

According to a new report from Canadean Intelligence on Innovation in Health & Beauty Packaging, the growing number of smaller households and single person households worldwide has direct consequences for product pack sizes.

This group of individuals is looking for 'on-the-go' products and flexible packaging. The need for smaller and lighter packs can be fulfilled in many forms, such as the credit card shaped sachet that fits perfectly in a jeans pocket, or recloseable and innovative combination packs such as According to the report, flexible packaging already owns the majority of the Health & Beauty market with a volume share of 58% in 2012. The demand for flexible packaging has grown fast, showing a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9% between 2007 and 2012.

The trend towards 'on-the-go' products, lightweight packs and greater flexibility in pack design suggests flexpack and other lightweight plastics will continue to grow. Smaller pack sizes further affect overall pack volumes; as the average pack size falls, the number of packs used per kg/ml packed increases.

Looking good for your age
The desire to look younger for longer and the anti-aging concept of beauty products has been a major focus in the Health & Beauty industry for a long time.

According to the Innovation in Health & Beauty Packaging report - a review of recent trends, drivers and issues in global Health & Beauty packaging - there has been an increasing trend towards wanting to "look good for your age" among more mature consumers.

Marketers outside the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) regions are already adjusting to aging populations as a result of
longer life expectancies and the retirement of the large baby boom generation.

Marketers in China and Russia have also had to adapt to the changing demographic structures. In China more than a fifth of the
population are over 50 years old. The same trend goes for many countries in Europe, where approximately a third of the French and British population are over 50.

These changing demographic structures will increase the demand for Health & mBeauty packaging towards 2017. Canadean
Intelligence estimates that by 2017 the retail value of the global Health & Beauty packaging market will be US$450 billion.

This value will be spread over 200 billion primary pack types, along with 25 billion outer packs and almost 100 billion closures.

Packaging innovation in the Health & Beauty market will be driven by skincare and haircare. These two categories accounts for 40% of the Health & Beauty market and will continue to witness steady growth to 2017.

Workplace impact
The desire to look good is not just a social pressure. According to the report, consumers believe that the signs of aging, and related conditions such as the appearance of fatigue, will impact on their opportunities in the workplace - something that is crucial in a period of high unemployment in mature economies and as retirement ages are pushed further back, in tune with increasing life expectancies.

The anti-aging industry is typically shifting from curative to a preventative position, particularly in skincare. A greater knowledge gained from research into the causes of aging, such as the damaging effects of the sun, and a call for more natural product ingredients have extended the anti-aging concept into new categories.

Design over costs
Creating a visually attractive pack design continues to be important in Health & Beauty packaging. Whereas tough economic times have made cost reduction a more prominent driver in other packaging markets, such as food and beverages, visually appealing pack designs are still deemed to be more important than pure cost reduction in the industry.

Asia, Latin America opportunity
According to the report, marketers should look to Asia and Latin America for new market opportunities. Due to expanding populations and growth in the number of affluent consumers, Asia was ranked the largest market for Health & Beauty products in the world in 2012, followed by Latin America.

People in these regions have had more money to spend on luxury products and have been buying Health & Beauty products more frequently during the last five years. In particular, there has been growth in the demand for premium, high-end, good quality products, and this is a trend that will continue towards 2017.

Eco-friendly advantage
An eco-friendly and sustainable brand profile continues to be an important factor plastic in packaging can massively improve a product's sustainability profile. One company that has proved successful with its corporate social responsibility strategy
is Marks & Spencer.

The UK multiple retailer's ethical and environmental code of conduct has been to increase the amount of packaging made from more sustainable raw materials such as recycled plastics. In its Essential Extracts personal care range, Marks & Spencer opted to use a 300ml PET bottle; a type of bottle that consists of 30% post-consumer recycled materials.

Making greater use of renewable materials is another method of improving the sustainability profile of a particular packaging design. Typically this approach will include replacing PS with PLA or using plant based materials.

France-based cosmetics group L'Occitane has worked with the specialist plastics packaging manufacturer Promens to launch a new bottle made from plantbased plastic. The bottles in the Bonne Mère range are recyclable and made from renewable plant-based plastic, using sugar cane as raw material.

The Canadean Intelligence report Innovation in Health & Beauty Packaging, 2013 was published in June 2013 and is available via the Industry Report Store.

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