A disruption, not a downturn
Please read our new expert-column by sector’s expert Elfriede Dambacher.
We all know that things change in life, and sometimes it is hard to embrace the new. A few weeks ago, I attended VIVANESS, where I was exposed to a lot of new things. I visit VIVANESS every year, and this year, the radical transformation that the market is undergoing was obvious. I wandered through the beautiful Hall 3C with a fresh perspective, discovering many familiar faces and brands, but also a lot of new developments. What’s happened? The international natural and organic cosmetics market has reached a serious level of maturity and is experiencing a major upheaval. The picture at VIVANESS is defined by many new young brands, making it an unrivalled hub of innovation.
As well as the valuable congress presentations and encounters that inspire me for the entire year, I discovered a wealth of surprising innovations. There are new young brands that are setting benchmarks. A lot has happened here.
On each day of the event, you could experience just how much the market is changing, and this was discussed in depth in the interesting presentations at the VIVANESS Congress. If I were to sum up the outcome of my visit, I would simply say that the huge change is palpable, and there is no sign of the downturn that is so often cited. Even if for the first time, Europe’s largest natural and organic cosmetic market could not report an increase in sales but instead announced a decline of around 3%.* This only makes the radical change even more evident. There is no certainty about how things will evolve, and it depends on how strong the brands are, given that the distinction between private labels and industry brands is increasingly blurred. Anyone embracing this change will also have a role to play in the market in future. Regardless of whether they are newcomers or established brands, those who manage to combine their values with today’s communication demands and sales challenges will ultimately make their voices heard and win customers for their products, even amidst all the underlying “chatter” about the sustainability of cosmetic products.
*Source: Natural Cosmetic Sector Monitor 2022 by THE NEW
