Superfoods: taste, health and beauty

Authentic, natural foods that become key ingredients in personal care products as well: beauty & food is the latest trend in Italian consumer goods. The stars of this show are unquestionably almonds and oats, as revealed by the Osservatorio Immagino survey of 11,500 products conducted by Nielsen/GS1 Italy.

The food and personal care sectors are closer than you think... The former takes inspiration from the latter, adopting its ingredients with clear benefits in marketing. As much was revealed by the latest Osservatorio Immagino Nielsen/GS1 Italy survey, which showed a rise in personal care products whose labels emphasize natural, edible ingredients already popular in the food sector.
The study surveyed 11,458 personal care and hygiene products distributed in hypermarkets and supermarkets during the year ending in June 2017. Nine different claims were identified.
While certain claims have featured in developments in personal care for years and are well-known among Italians (e.g. “dermatologically tested” and “paraben-free”), others have only appeared recently. They play on new consumer sensitivities and appear to be the top performers in terms of sales.
The most significant finding has to do with “double face” ingredients, whose popularity bridges food and personal care sectors. In particular, food appears to be the incubator for marketing phenomena that go on to have a strong impact in the personal care and homecare sectors. Certain foods with celebrated health benefits (like oats and almonds), tied to their image as natural and traditional products, enjoy the same popularity when they are used to create body lotions, shampoos and so forth. Those products, benefiting in turn from that appeal, often see a significant rise in sales.

Oats: your skin’s best friend
An emblematic example of the superfood phenomenon, the popularity of this product in the food sector due to its anti-cholesterol properties has also carried its success in personal care products thanks to its soothing properties. During the time period under analysis, products touting the presence of oats on the label (1.0% of the sample) saw sales increase by 39.1%. This boom was driven mainly by consumers in Italy’s southern regions, where the growth reached 67.2%.
At the same time, in the food sector, oats features in the hit parade of the world’s trendiest foods, featuring on the labels of 0.5% of 46,600 surveyed products sold in Italian supermarkets and hypermarkets. Those advertising oats as an ingredient account for 0.6% of Italian consumer goods, having grown by 3.3% in 12 months.

Almonds. From the kitchen to body lotions, almonds are among the most sought-after main ingredients by consumers shopping for hygiene and personal care products. They are used in 2.8% of beauty products surveyed. Their success in personal care echoes that in food, in which they represent the most established superfood in the Italian consumer goods market. Between those sold plain and those used to flavor other preparations, they feature in 1.2% of products sold in the year ending in June 2017, generating 1% of total sales.