Europe's Nutricosmetics Market Languishes

Functional food, beverage and supplement experts say the European market for “beauty from within” nutricosmetics – once thought to have huge potential – continues to stagnate, probably because consumers just don’t believe beautiful skin comes from something edible. Perhaps the biggest sign of that disappointment was Danone’s failed skin-health yogurt product, Essensis, introduced four years ago but now vanished from store shelves thanks to poor sales. New nutricosmetics products continue to emerge, but Sweden’s Biovelop, which has a new line of functional beauty ingredients made from oats, says consumers want to apply, not ingest, their personal care products. Julian Mellentin, director of consultancy New Nutrition Business, agrees: "Consumers are a long way from being ready to believe that yogurt or juice can make their skin look better.”