Alban Muller rebrands to emphasise natural credentials
Its shift to a green branding, according to the company, is intended to “symbolise nature and Alban Muller’s eco-responsible commitment”, and the new emblem is designed to represent heritage, innovation and quality.
“We felt we had to express our values and strengths in a new logo showing our commitment to make the best possible natural extracts from local crops while limiting our impact on the environment,” the company said in a statement.
“Having our roots deep into tradition but perfecting each aspect of our trade by modern technologies leads to a welcome expertise we want to offer together with the products we can make in our certified factory in the Cosmetic Valley (France)”
Naturals
Although the majority of beauty products remain formulated with a high proportion of synthetic ingredients, according to market research firm Kline, the growing interest in naturals is continuing to dominate in the industry.
“Truly natural positioning is gaining importance with consumers, manufacturers, and retailers,” the firm noted in a report last year. “Marketers have increasingly been reformulating with a higher proportion of truly natural ingredients in their products.”
Although still in early stages in less mature markets like Brazil and some Asia-Pacific countries, Kline notes that the naturals trend is proving enduringly dominant in western markets.
“In mature markets like the United States and Europe, a growing number of consumers are purchasing products containing predominantly natural ingredients,” the firm explained.
Time to define?
While ingredients companies like Alban Muller are increasing their naturals offering to facilitate reformulation for new innovation for beauty brands to move towards a truly natural proposition, the general naturals trend has been criticised for lacking a formal definition.
Indeed, recently, industry non-profit association NATRUE spoke out against the lack of formal regulatory definition for the term ‘natural’.
“Our beloved products are still an officially undefined sector of the tightly regulated European industry,” the association stated, “and this is the reason for NATRUE’s advocacy role - that any future regulatory definition of Natural and Organic Cosmetics must be appropriate, relevant and strict.”
