Beauty Foods Head West

Posted: June 3, 2008

Beauty foods, or food and beverages that are said to provide a beauty benefit, originated in Asia and are migrating west. Mintel reports that beauty foods accounted for 8.9% of the food and nonalcoholic beverage market in the Asia-Pacific region in 2006, increasing to more than 35% in 2007. During the same time period, the share in Europe more than doubled, while North America showed a modest increase from 3.9% to 4.66%. This illustrates the explosive growth in Asia and the ensuing ripple effect to Europe and North America.

In Asia, there are many beauty foods that contain ingredients like collagen, which are more commonly found in skin care formulations. The number of collagen-containing confections in Asia-Pacific, for example, tripled from 2006 to 2007, according to Mintel. Fruit Gummy Pupurun from Meiji Seika Kaisha for example contains 1,500 mg of collagen per serving. It makes no overt beauty claim but relies on consumer recognition of collagen as a beauty-enhancing ingredient.

Likewise, Hi-Chu Plus delivers collagen in a white grape flavored chewing gum. Sold in packs of 12 sticks, the gum is also available with a supplement of iron or fiber.

Mintel's GNPD reveals that nonalcoholic beverages account for half of functional beauty foods in Asia. Nestlé Day & Night Collagen Enriched Low-fat Drink is a ready-to-drink containing an undisclosed amount of collagen and claims to foster improvement in skin elasticity and moisture.

Vitamin Collagen from Japanese brand C1000 combines 1000 mg of vitamin C and 3000 mg of collagen into a 190 g canned beverage. While it makes no beauty claims, the word collagen reportedly is the largest and most prominent word on the label.