“Formulator’s first choice”
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
Consumer demand for natural cosmetic ingredients that "work" is fueling high growth of the botanical actives market, Kline & Company reports Feb. 17. Botanical consumption grew 8% in 2008, outstripping the growth of other specialty actives and active delivery systems, which achieved total growth of 5.4%. The full specialty actives market in the U.S. and Western Europe in 2008 was worth $840 mil. Given the unflagging popularity of green options, active botanicals increasingly are being seen as a "formulator's first choice" when making a new product, according to Kline. Efficacy and naturalness "were regarded as contradictory a few years ago, but highly substantiated botanical products developed recently brought new solutions to formulators," says Nikola Matic, senior analyst for Kline's Chemicals and Material Industry division. Major players in the active botanicals industry include Croda, Cognis, Bio-Botanica, Gattefosse, Active Organic and Alban Muller