Fruit juice and dairy hold beauty promise

The food industry began crossing into cosmetic territory several years ago with the creation of beauty enhancing dietary supplements but now everything from teas to marshmallows have been tested on the beauty consumer.

Drinks that are already associated with healthy living such as milk and fruit are now expected to prove most successful in this fast growing market, said Udi Alroy from Israel-based ingredients supplier LycoRed.

The marketing executive told CosmeticsDesign.com that yoghurt drinks have already proved popular with consumers as a carrier for ingredients that improve the appearance of the skin.

Dairy products are natural contenders for the beauty food wave because they are rich in beauty enhancing vitamins and minerals and consumers are used to them being marketed with specific life enhancing claims, such as improved digestion.

One of the largest manufacturers to take this direction is Danone, which rolled out a beauty yoghurt fortified with Omega 6, antioxidants and probiotics called Essensis in February last year in the Mediterranean countries of Italy, Spain and France.

In addition to dairy products, Alroy said beauty enhancing fruit juice was likely to be a hit with consumers because unlike other potential carriers such as snack bars or even marshmallows there are established health benefits of fruit juice.

The LycoRed executive said beauty beverages may work to improve the appearance of the skin with the addition of antioxidants in the carotenoid family such as LycoPene, which improve the firmness of the skin and help protect it from UV-rays.

With regards to the geographic progress of beauty food and drink Alroy said Japan is the most developed market.

The Japanese beauty food market contains a number of quirky products such as collagen-filled marshmallows, which were sold in the UK with little success by the confectioner Eiwa.

Alroy said France has been flying the flag for Europe over the last few years although high growth in the country is now spreading to other countries such as Russia, Spain, the US and the UK.