Packaging for cosmetics and perfumes

PRODUCTION AND TRENDS Daily hygiene and personal wellness products are indispensable, even during a prolonged crisis. Indeed, the production output of the manufacturers belonging to Cosmetica Italia has grown by 2.6% during the last year, and although the trend shows a few contractions, high growth potential persists. Numbers, choices and trends in the use of packaging follows. Plinio Iascone

According to data presented by the Research and Business Culture Center of the Italian cosmetics manufacturers’ association Cosmetica Italia, total production in this important manufacturing sector reached 9,280 million euro in 2013, amounting to 2.6% growth over that of the previous year.
Such findings are heartening in a year of economic challenges for both Italy and Europe as a whole.
This positive performance was made possible by increased exports (+10%, 3,180 million euro), which made it possible to limit the 1.2% drop in domestic consumption.

Imports grew by approximately 1%. In 2013, imports accounted for 21% of domestic consumption.
Looking at the current growth trend of the domestic market, the two-year period 2012-2013 has shown a progressive drop of -1.8% and -1.2%, respectively; the trend is expected to continue in 2014 with a further drop of 0.8%.
The progressive growth of exports has thus compensated for a decline in domestic demand, but the current growth trend in production is significantly reduced in comparison to the past.
The growth potential of the Italian cosmetics industry still proves consistent nonetheless, both considering the expected gradual recovery of domestic and European consumption and in terms
of the industry’s high level of competitiveness.
In 2013, 73.6% of cosmetics/perfume products were purchased by women, 26.4% by men.
In terms of product type, in 2013 the cosmetics market broke down as follows:
- body and face 31.6%;
- hair 14%;
- body hygiene 13.1%;
- oral hygiene 8.5%;
- women’s and men’s perfume 11.3%;
- makeup and eyes 9.1%;
- lips 3.4%;
- hand care 3%;
- other 6%.
While projected growth trends for the domestic market are based on an increasing orientation toward body care, with increasing participation by male consumers, the growth of Italian exports has to do with the competitiveness of Italian products in terms of quality and innovation.
Cosmetics and perfume remain, in the collective imagination, products closely connected to image, and product presentation, along with everything having to do with communication, naturally takes on a decisive value in this sense.
The importance of packaging is thus clear, and this means it constitutes a formidable marketing tool.


Packaging: quantity and categories
The year 2013 saw the use of approximately 3,392 million packaging units made for products of the cosmetics/perfume sector destined for both the domestic and export markets.
Compared to 2012 there has been a slight decline, valued at around 0.2-0.4%, and this is the first time in the last fifteen years that signs of growth stopping have appeared. However, for 2014 a progressive recovery is expected.

Glass. Flacons, bottles, jars... account for a total share of 23.8% of primary packaging used for packaging various cosmetics products. The share of this type shows a positive growth trend. Glass is destined primarily for women’s and men’s perfumes (89%), hand care products (29%) and facial care and makeup (20%).

Plastic. Containers, flacons, tubes and rigid packaging continue to be the most widely used types, consistently maintaining a total share of 42.7%. The most significant shares can be divided among the following categories: hair treatment products (75%), body care (57%), face and makeups (64%), lipsticks (70%) with progressive growth, deodorants (50%) and hand care products (34%) with slight negative growth.

Rigid and flexible polylaminates. This type of packaging is seeing progressive growth. The PE/ALL/PE flexible tube accounts for a total share of 18.8%; converted flexible polylaminates, almost entirely single-dose pouches, account for 4.5%, with positive growth for hand care products and perfumes. In many cases, these two packaging types are competitors of plastic containers.

Metal and aluminium. Spray cans destined for cosmetics can be subdivided into aluminium and steel, with shares of 4.1% and 1.3%, respectively. The trend veers toward aluminium spray cans.
Other metal packaging, for the most part aluminium, include flexible tubes (1.8%), boxes for creams (0.5%) and flacons (1%).

Paper. The share of packaging with primary packaging made from paper (talcum powder) and paper wrapping (soaps) has remained basically stable.

Paperboard. The box remains the most widely used secondary packaging for presentation, proving to be absolutely necessary in the communication system of many high end products. It is estimated that the use of boxes accounts for approximately 45% of packaging. It is calculated that 1,320 billion units, a slight increase over 2011, is being used.

In conclusion, for Italy’s cosmetics industry, as shown by Cosmetica Italia, a policy of continuous investment in innovation and growth has enabled Italian enterprises to compete with increasing effectiveness both in international and domestic markets, laying the groundwork for further advancements in the long term.
                           
Plinio Iascone
Istituto Italiano Imballaggio