Good enough to eat: Food products inspire global personal care packaging

Food-based beauty products appeal to consumer acceptance of the benefits of healthy eating and can provide sensorial experiences with new packaging shapes and materials.

Consumers around the world agree that the food they eat influences the way they look, thus putting significant emphasis on healthy diets and more attention to the use of food-related ingredients. According to Mintel’s Facial Care Women vs Men China 2015 report, 69% of consumers aged 20-49 who use facial skincare products believe in using such products to look beautiful. At the same time, just under two thirds of consumers think that eating a more balanced diet will help in beauty maintenance. Similarly in the UK two thirds of women consider diet to be the most important factor in determining the appearance of skin.

This high consumer interest in food-based beauty products presents opportunities for packaging to become more attractive, fun and functional, reflecting the positioning of beauty products as food for your skin…

Bubble T Cosmetics in the UK packaged its bath products in tea bags that have to be infused in the bath.

La Chaise Longue in France made its strawberry-flavoured bar of soap look like an ice cream bar, which creates an appealing package design.

Tony Moly in South Korea makes beauty product packaging look like whole fruit or vegetables, which adds a fun element but also brings novel shapes and materials to the category.

Beyond making packaging that looks like a product that could be easily found in the food aisle, some brands are also using packaging formats that are common in food categories but are new in the beauty segment.

Amend RMC System Q+ Gold-Black Shampoo in Brazil retails in a pack that resembles a beer can, with the difference being that the shampoo bottle is made from plastic.

ORS Shealicious Hair Conditioning Cocktails in the US is described as “An Easy DIY Cocktail for Healthy Hair”, and retails in a yogurt-shaped “flip” pack that allows consumers to pour natural oil into a moisturizing conditioner.

We can see that brands are creating visually and tactilely stimulating packaging as a way to create a point of difference on shelf and communicate to consumers the benefits of food-based ingredients. Novel ways of using the beauty products that remind users of the routines they experience in food categories create true differentiation on shelf.

Viktorija Gnatoka is a Global Packaging Analyst at Mintel, where she is responsible for delivering packaging insights and actionable recommendations across multiple categories.