The business unit still accounts for only 1.8% of the Group’s revenue, however it is fast growing and the Cosmetics BU director Stephanie Puel tells CosmeticsDesign-Europe.com that there are big plans in this industry.
The France-based firm saw strong growth in the NAT select range along with good performance in oral care products like Talin, and natural molecules derived from licorice and centella, which have anti-inflammatory and anti-ageing properties respectively.
Building a better future
Building on this, Naturex will look to develop its natural products to meet the demands of the cosmetics market and continue its strong performance.
“Natural ingredients need to perform well in formulation, be sustainably sourced and create the point of difference in terms of innovation,” says Puel.
“We are working on those elements every day in order to offer ingredients that fulfil all these criteria at once. To help us in this task, we have also developed an application laboratory to assist manufacturers in formulating their new products.”
Strategy
The Avignon-headquartered company’s Personal Care leader also outlines the three pillars she says the business unit’s strategy is based on: its offer, the sales network, and communication.
“The offer is divided into 3 segments, the last of which (botanical oils) was unveiled in October 2013,” continues Puel.
“We hope that this new field of expertise will anchor Naturex as a key player in the Personal Care industry. This new range is the flagship of our expertise and skills in the cosmetics area. We are confident that our clients will enjoy and appreciate the work that has been done on this range.”
As well as the recently launched oils, Naturex also offers its range of titrated and untitrated botanical extracts, which includes the Magic of Africa line, launched at In-Cosmetics Europe in April.
Puel also describes the firm’s sales network, which for the Personal Care industry is being reinforced all over the world.
“We are promoting our new ranges/ingredients with marketing campaigns. We are also taking a step further by creating events for our clients around our ingredients,” she adds.
The Group as a whole
For the third quarter, Naturex’s Personal Care segment had sales of €4.3 million, as all geographic regions delivered good growth, both in mature markets still affected by a difficult economic environment in Europe, and emerging markets with continuing momentum.
On the whole, including its larger Food and Nutrition units, the Group reported slightly slower growth in the third quarter, mainly due to the currency fluctuations; although revenue for the first nine months was still up 8.7% compared to the same period last year.
The company recorded sales of €76.8m in the third quarter, up 1.1% on the prior year period.