According to market research company Kline, India’s market for personal care ingredients has in the past been characterised by price sensitivity, due to the popularity of low-price, high-volume end products.
However, more sophisticated consumer tastes, higher disposable income and more complex formulating techniques are changing the market in the region, according to Kline, spurring significant growth overall as well as an expansion in the demand for more sophisticated ingredients.
The market is expected to grow in volume by 9.6 per cent over the four year period from 2010 and 2014 and was estimated to stand at 33,000 tonnes in 2009, Kline claims.
Products with better functionality
One of the factors driving the changes to the market is consumers’ demand for products with better functional benefits, Kline analyst Anna Ibbotson explained.
“Products with better functional benefits vary from a conditioner designed for reduction of frizziness in hair, to skin products with anti-ageing properties. Consumers are now willing to pay a premium for products with improved benefits,” she told CosmeticsDesign-Europe.com.
The increasing disposable incomes of many consumers in the country is helping to drive this move towards higher value products.
Imported ingredients
While Indian personal care ingredients companies did not suffer as much as some from the recession, it is the global players that stand to benefit most from this move towards more sophisticated ingredients and products, Ibbotson said.
“India has historically been a market focused largely on commodity or bulk ingredients for personal care products…these bulk chemicals were mainly produced by domestic companies.”
However, with the recognition that the market is not as price sensitive as it once was, companies are recognising the potential of high value products.
“The main channel for these ingredients into the market is currently through imports, with international companies now creating customer-bases in India,” she said.
Emollients and UV filters
Two of the ingredients classes that Kline predicts for significant future growth are emollients and UV filters.
Emollients are projected by Kline to increase in volume by 11.4 per cent before 2014 driven by a demand for skin care products with moisturising benefits; and the popularity of skin care products that promise UV protection is expected to boost the demand for UV filters in the region.