The beauty industry is ramping up its use of natural and organic ingredients and acquiring green brands with the expectation that mainstream consumers will be won over, MediaPost reports. Brands are also looking more to clean energy - since last fall, Aveda has been using 100% wind energy in its primary manufacturing facility in Blaine, Minn. that makes 60 percent of its products.
In just the past 12 months, beauty giant L’Oreal bought The Body Shop, in addition to organic manufacturer Laboratoire Sanoflore, and Tom’s of Maine was acquired by Colgate-Palmolive.
But it’s not clear if consumers who shop at large mass retailers will spend more on organic products. Consumers are split on whether organics were better for them and the environment, says Candace Corlett, beauty and retail consultant at WSL Strategic Retail, citing WSL’s October How America Shops survey focusing on organic products across the board.
Drug stores and specialty shops are a natural retail fit, but people associate organics with being “precious,” Corlett adds, so warehouse club product sizing and Wal-Mart may not be the best places to merchandise these items.
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