The organisers behind in-cosmetics Latin America delivered a record-breaking event when the exhibition returned to Brazil on 18-19 September. Reflecting the region’s need for learning and exploring new ingredients in the industry, more than 4,700 R&D professionals descended on the Expo Center Norte São Paulo to discover the latest innovative ingredients, network with fellow professionals and learn about the latest trends set to hit the fourth largest cosmetics market in the world.
Over the course of the two days, the region’s leading personal care ingredients event provided a platform for suppliers to showcase their pioneering ingredients, materials and technologies. The show saw a 14% increase in the number of stands this year, with 23 suppliers exhibiting at in-cosmetics Latin America for the first time. Similarly, a record-breaking 52% of visitors had never attended the show before – highlighting the growth in popularity of the event. A large cohort of visitors travelled from within Brazil, as well as from other countries across South America including Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Inspiring innovation
Over the two days, all eyes were firmly on the future. Senior R&D professionals from companies such as Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Natura, Johnson & Johnson, L’OCCITANE, Avon, Belcorp, LACA, Mary Kay and Genomma Lab attended the event to source novel ingredients, and identify trends that will drive the success of one of the most dynamic beauty scenes on the planet.
Fabiana Munhoz, Manager of Advanced Research at L’Oreal, commented: “The format of the exhibition is genuinely conducive to a good discussion with suppliers about what is trending and what is happening in the market – I found the whole experience very enlightening.”
Innovation as a theme featured prominently throughout the educational programme as highlighted by Sérgio Gonçalves, Chemyunion’s director of marketing and business, during one of the ABIHPEC (Brazilian Association of the Personal Hygiene, Perfumery and Cosmetics Industry) Technical Workshops. He said: “People confuse innovation with invention. It’s not just technology and science, it has to be firmly grounded in business. In recent years we have noticed something of an acceleration in this process. The market is faster, the technology is more agile, the product life cycle is shorter, and we need to improve our ability to innovate”.
And Exhibition Director, Daniel Zanetti, agreed. He said: “Innovation is at the very heart of the beauty industry, it is embedded in everything we do, and this is reflected at in-cosmetics Latin America. Our aim is to provide tools for the sector to continually reinvent itself year-on-year, to help brands develop forward-thinking products that cater to consumers’ ever-changing needs – and that starts with the pioneering new ingredients that our exhibitors are creating and showcasing at the event.”
One area of the exhibition where this activity was particularly prevalent was the Innovation Zone, which showcased a record number of brand-new ingredients this year. The Innovation Zone Demonstrations, 30-minute interactive presentations and Spotlight On area – focusing on trends in haircare, skincare and formulations – also proved to be popular, offering visitors practical and theoretical insights into the very latest developments in the industry.
Making their debut at the exhibition this year, the Innovation Tours proved to be a huge hit with formulators and developers alike. Led by Product Development Researcher and in-cosmetics Latin America Technical Advisor, Cleber Barros, the silent tours guided visitors around the event, highlighting companies offering new and novel products.
Barros explained: “The launch or the Innovation Tours this year truly exceeded my expectations. The experience offered proved to be truly immersive – participants were able to learn about the background to the products, what is different about them, the pros and cons and crucially, to find out what makes them genuinely innovative.”
At the in-cosmetics Latin America Cocktail and Awards night, exhibitors were recognised for their achievements in three separate awards. The Innovation Zone Best Ingredient Award – which highlighted ingredients that combine innovative science and product features in a way that demonstrates substantial benefits to manufacturers and to end-users when compared to existing ingredients – went to Solabia Biotecnológica for PRELLIANCE®, while the silver award went to Gattefossé for Emulium® Illustro and bronze to Symrise for SymRebootTM L19.
The Gold winner of the Spotlight On Award, which celebrated the best ingredient among three increasingly important areas of the industry – haircare, anti-ageing and formulations – was Colormix Specialties with SunCare Apalight SPF 30. Silver and bronze went to LipoTrue S.L. (AnargyTM) and IFF – Lucas Meyer Cosmetics (SKINecturaTM), respectively.
Finally, the winner of the Gold ABIHPEC-ITEHPEC Innovation Award, organised by ABIHPEC, was Bloomage Biotech, with its active microHA. In second place with the Silver Award was Chemyunion, with its assets MICAH® and THERMOSHIELD PREMIUM while Bronze went to Hallstar.
Talking trends
Sustainability was another trend that played out significantly across the exhibition this year. With generations Y and Z paying more attention to the environmental impact of the products they use than ever before, manufacturers have been forced to turn their attention to green and natural ingredients. Reflecting the importance of this trend, the event organisers introduced the Green Trail, which signposted visitors to over 94 exhibitors with a particular focus on this area.
One company that particularly benefited from the initiative was first-time exhibitor Nanoceuticals. “We met visitors from really large companies and were very surprised by the result. We are from Goiás in the centre-west of Brazil and will return to São Paulo in 20 days to close deals, which have only been made possible by the exhibition. We already have our stand booked for next year,” commented Guilherme Ferreira, Chief Sales Officer.
Another company with a focus on sustainability and natural ingredients was Beraca. The exhibitor boasted one of the busiest stands at the event thanks to the launch of a brand-new acai extract and ‘sensory experience’ where visitors could develop their own facial serum and leave-in capillary. “We didn’t stop for a minute. We love in-cosmetics Latin America for its well-targeted audience.”
Independent brands have long been a mainstay of the Latin American cosmetics industry, and indeed in 2018 the market was valued at R$400 million. However, while they have the ability to be flexible to suit individual needs and can really focus on health, well-being, sustainability and local sourcing, the brands themselves often have difficulty in finding suppliers who can provide ingredients to suit a smaller production run. This challenge inspired another new experience at this year’s exhibition – the Indie Trail. Made up of approximately 50 exhibitors, it helped visitors navigate their way around the event with greater efficiency, highlighting companies that are set-up to cater to smaller businesses.
Raquel Goldman, from the R&D team at Brazilian company, Labot Green Cosmetics, emphasised the importance of the trail. “I’ve been in business for a long time and always got the sense that companies were only really interested in servicing big brands because of the minimum order volume. Now, thanks to the trail, I have been able to meet the right people, and companies welcomed me who were able to physically meet the needs of my brand. Another really innovative idea from in-cosmetics Latin America.”
Driving knowledge
Education once again played a key role at this year’s exhibition, with comprehensive trends analysis, technical training and professional development spread over the two days of the event.
The Technical Workshops, hosted by ABIHPEC, explored ‘a digital world and cosmetics’, delving into subjects such as ‘applications of hyperspectral images in sun care’ and ‘epigenetics applied to cosmetics’. In the Technical Seminars, topics such as ‘pro-ageing, lifestyle and positive attitude’ and ‘a Mediterranean active ingredient for non-gender eye-care beauty’ were also covered.
Meanwhile the highly-acclaimed Marketing Trends Theatre hosted sessions such as ‘opportunities in natural products in Latin America’, ‘trends and business opportunities with Asian Beauty’, ‘tools for sustainable innovation’ and ‘fragrance through the decades – the social, political and economic trends that influence fragrance’, among many others.
Presentations that proved particularly popular included ‘the future of skincare’ with Bruna Ortega, Beauty and Fashion Expert at WGSN, and ‘haircare in Latin America – trends and opportunities’ with Elton Morimitsu, Senior Analyst at Euromonitor International.
For more information and to receive the latest updates, please visit https://latinamerica.in-cosmetics.com