“L'Oreal-Nestle beauty-pill venture eyes China - San Francisco Gate” |
| L'Oreal-Nestle beauty-pill venture eyes China - San Francisco Gate Posted: 26 Nov 2010 09:07 PM PST Inneov, the maker of beauty pills owned jointly by L'Oreal SA and Nestle SA, plans to enter China next year and may also expand in Latin America as more people turn to dietary supplements to treat skin and hair conditions. "There is a huge opportunity in Asia," said Brigitte Liberman, head of L'Oreal's Active Cosmetics unit, which operates Inneov. Nutritional supplements for skin and hair, or nutricosmetics, are "part of the routine of Asian women." Inneov may enter Chile and Argentina, she said in an interview in Paris, declining to say when. L'Oreal, the world's largest cosmetics maker, gets about a third of its sales from markets such as Asia and Latin America, and aims to increase that proportion to as much as 60 percent in 10 years. Asia accounts for about $1.33 billion in nutricosmetic sales, or half the world's total, while Europe and the Americas each generate about $688 million, Inneov estimates. Entering new markets is essential if nutricosmetics are to become more than a niche product, according to Ewa Hudson, an analyst at Euromonitor International. European consumers have been slow to adopt beauty supplements because they don't understand what the ingredients can do for them, she said. "In Asia it's a very different story," Hudson said. "There are loads and loads of beauty-from-within products." L'Oreal, based in Paris, and Nestle, the world's largest food company, formed Inneov in 2002 as "an alliance of expertise," Liberman said. The joint venture, whose treatments include Fermete pills for wrinkles and saggy skin, sells in 16 European countries, plus Brazil and Mexico. Liberman declined to provide revenue and profit figures, citing company policy. Inneov, which competes with Laboratoire Oenobiol, introduced an anti-dandruff treatment last month to add to its arsenal of 12 clinically tested products, which are priced between $27 and $40 a packet. The company's sales are climbing as much as 10 percent in some countries in Europe, Liberman said, declining to specify which. About 20 percent of women in Europe use supplements for conditions such as cellulite and hair loss, Liberman estimates, compared with 5 to 10 percent of men. Overall, demand for nutricosmetics is increasing as people become more health conscious, she said. This article appeared on page D - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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