NEWS > 22 October 2024

A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE BEAUTY SUPPLY CHAIN

THE BEAUTY SUPPLY CHAIN

Today’s cosmetic industry is the perfect match between innovation and craftsmanship. From ingredients to formulation, from packaging to machinery and solutions for the supply chain, from contract manufacturing to full service production, all segments are experiencing a new wave of change. Through CosmoFactory – from ideas to innovation, the podcast by Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna, entrepreneurs and key players give evidence of the latest avant-garde solutions and market trends.

INGREDIENTS, RAW MATERIALS AND FORMULATION: SAFE AND SUSTAINABLE PROPOSAL

Ingredients and raw materials are a pivotal aspect of the beauty supply chain. Investments in research and development of new supply processes and chemical solutions are pushing the cosmetic industry towards a radical change. The final goal is reducing carbon footprint and the impact on the planet. As a global trend, the segment is revitalized by innovative plant-derived components, organic farming processes and biotechnology innovation, which are developing along with new ingredients derived from ancient traditions, such as ayurveda or Chinese medicine. All the latest solutions translate the beneficial properties of nature into safe and sustainable proposals. 

Even Intercos, recognised as a global leader, is constantly investing in new ingredient innovations. “We have developed an internal trend team, which is distributed across all the regions. It's very important to have a team of people that really are able to have a vision, and project ideas and concepts into the future”, said Arabella Ferrari, Senior Vice President of the Makeup Business Unit at Intercos, on the CosmoFactory podcast. “We have a very active raw material lab, which works not only on scouting, but on our own developments, too. Further to that, we have joint labs with universities, which help us working on biotech and avant-garde technologies inspired by other sectors”.
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CONSUMER BEHAVIOR DRIVES THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW SOLUTIONS

R&D teams today have to deal not only with regulations and scientific tests, but with what consumers define as prominent values. It is not the brand anymore who defines the trends and the must-have products to be launched, but it’s consumer behaviour that leads the development of new solutions. Ancorotti Cosmetics, a leader in make-up, mascara and skincare formulation and products, is proposing new solutions to match what the market is looking for. “Makeup-only is over: nobody wants just makeup”, affirms Arwen Imperatori, Communication Manager at Ancorotti Cosmetics S.p.A.. “Now, we really think of makeup as a fusion of colour results and skin care properties. We have to develop hybrid products, taking inspiration from skincare and all the research about actives and their functionality”.

PACKAGING AND THE BALANCE BETWEEN REGULATIONS AND SUSTAINABILITY

Packaging seems to be a very basic element. We tend to think that it deals simply with putting a product in and then closing the lid. On the contrary, designing packaging solutions that perform is a very intensive process, which involves structural design, sustainability, engineering, marketing and much more. “When you start a project, it's really a pen-to-paper phase. You have to ask yourself what you want the packaging to be, what you want to do, what market you want to go after, what are your claims”, says Tommy Hammond, Senior Director of Global Package Development and Engineering at Revlon. Today Revlon is recognized for some of the world’s most iconic brands and products across colour cosmetics, skincare, hair colour, hair care, personal care, and fragrance. Revlon products are sold around the world through prestige, professional, mass, and direct-to-consumer retail channels.

Revlon produces global products, so globally compliant packaging is more of a focus now. When you sell products around the world, you have to make sure that you meet any array of local regulations. “We have a very strong regulatory team that's constantly looking and listening for all of the different regulations that may be popping up”, highlights Hammond. “We have to ensure that we're using the right materials. I mean, generally, even before the regulations pop up, we are ahead of the game because we don't want to work with plastics or materials that are going to be harmful to consumers or to the planet. I think we're making some real progress in terms of sustainable packaging. Ensuring that you can separate materials and dispose of materials properly, and that you can put them into the correct waste streams, is super important to me and to the organization.”

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THE IMPACT OF AI AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES ON THE BEAUTY SUPPLY CHAIN

The intersection between beauty and technology is an undeniably vital topic for the evolution of the cosmetics industry today. AI has a deep impact on the sector: it is going to create a new culture around beauty, new insights, and new brands, as well as new ways to market beauty. AI is changing how we work, the way we are doing research, and how we are discovering what’s new. 

Sea Vision, a leader in vision inspection systems, track-and-trace software, and process automation solutions for pharmaceutical companies and OEMs, has been part of Marchesini Group since 2022. The company uses AI for quality control in cosmetic product manufacturing, industrial automation, and much more. Vision System technology, supported by AI, is being used to improve quality assurance processes to produce safe and traceable products. “Traceability does deal not only with safety, but also with waste reduction and sustainability. There is a huge effort from all the player in the beauty market to push forward on sustainability and recycling, so track-and-trace solutions will be the next step towards a more sustainable industry”, highlighted Francesco Ringressi, Cosmetic Business Development Manager at SEA Vision when taking part in one of the first episodes of the CosmoFactory podcast.
AI is evolving fast, and new tools are influencing the market. First AI solutions were based on statistics and predictions, since they were trained on a fixed set of data. Nowadays, new technologies use generative AI reshaping consumer product discovery and retail experience across color cosmetics, skincare, and hair care. One of the most impactful tech companies in beauty is Perfect Corp, a Taiwan-based SaaS company with a global reach. Perfect Corp works with over 600 partners, empowering brands to embrace the digital-first world by transforming the consumer shopping journey through digital tech innovations. Wayne Liu, Chief Growth Officer and President, shared his vision on the future of AI technologies: “We are using generative AI to do a simulation. Our tools understand your skin and hair condition, as well as your preferences, and then come up with the best look and proposals for you. It’s a truly creative process, it’s true personalization”.
 
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CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION IN PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

 Artificial Intelligence can sensibly support cosmetic science, adding new potential tools for ingredient discovery, product benchmarking, formulation optimization, and much more. Potion AI, based in San Francisco, helps cosmetic formulators establish a product benchmark

After talking to hundreds of formulators, the company created an automated solution of benchmark evaluation, a process that is already being done manually every day by formulators.  Potion AI’s technology can help identify potential ingredient matches much more quickly. When asked, on the CosmoFactory Podcast, if tools like Potion AI actually make space for further creativity or product differentiation, and if we might actually see an increased demand from beauty makers for some of these new ingredient technologies, maybe even for novel ingredient delivery mechanisms, Yahya Syed, co-founder and CEO at Potion AI, was optimistic, saying “I think people will, in fact, be able to spend  more time creating what are hopefully better products for the market, and therefore better proposals for consumers”.
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COSMOPACK, HOME FOR THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEAUTY INDUSTRY

For stakeholders who wish to discover the next trends and avant-garde innovations transforming the beauty industry, Cosmopack Bologna is the event within an event that truly boasts the best worldwide companies representing the entire cosmetics supply chain. Over 550 companies from almost 40 countries, the world's best representatives of their respective segments, participate in the exhibition: formulation, contract manufacturing, primary and secondary packaging, machinery and lines for bulk processing and product packaging are represented. At the same time, Cosmopack welcomes international SMEs which can easily adapt to lead times and the required volumes. For this reason, it is the most strategic event covering all the segments of the supply chain, and meeting any buyer’s needs.

To discover the most avant-garde present and future solutions and the latest trends, the next appointment is in Bologna, from 20 to 23 March, 2025.
 

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