Organic cosmetics are ubiquitous in media, with an always positive green image. However, the sector is valued at 3% of the overall cosmetics market, and its growth prospects are low. The large groups are currently losing money with their organic brands, going sometimes up to giving up, as Clarins did with Kibio. As for the “small” brands, there are plenty that suffer to the point they are seeking a buyer more than looking for new markets. Why do the organic cosmetics not find their customers? What if the organic cosmetic did not answer consumers’ needs?
The 32nd session of the Matinales de la Cosmétique, this meeting of cosmetics professionals around a breakfast and a hot topic, was held on 25 January 2013, and there was no room left, a proof that, while the organic cosmetic is not in good shape, it is, nevertheless, a key point in the questions arisen by the sector.
For this occasion, Sylvain-Romain Cotte has invited two speakers.
Marie-Alice Dibon is the Manager of Alice Communications, a USA-based consultancy firm, positioned at the interface between biotechnology and beauty. Sandie Jaidane, a consultant (in SJ Consulting) specialized in organic products, is also an organizer of the Eco-Cosmetics Conventions and of the Natural Beauty Summits.
Both, thanks to their different approaches and their complementary understandings, they gave an analysis of the market, and sketched out new areas of study on the future of the organic cosmetic industry.
The new societal deal
Marie-Alice Dibon, who let the audience know her “bio-skepticism”, began by asking, ‘Why organic? Why is the consumer attracted by organic?’ For her, the answer is first to be found in what occurred during the last few years, and what happens nowadays, in the society as a whole.
A global world
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