This report looks at the following areas:
- Key factors influencing the edible beauty market
- Notable marketing activities
- Notable product innovation trends and case studies
- Purpose of consumption
- Edible beauty concepts of interest
- Ingredient perceptions and efficacy associations
- Consumption barriers for edible beauty
- Preferences for the countries of origin of edible beauty products and attitudes towards edible beauty
There is a growing trend for collaboration and ingredient sharing between the edible beauty and skincare categories. Looking ahead, there is great potential in traditional Chinese edible beauty solutions which leverage medicinal food ingredients as their core selling point.
Yali Jiang, Associate Director, China Insights
Market Definitions
For the purposes of this Report, Mintel has defined edible beauty as follows:
- Food/drinks (eg yogurt) with added beauty ingredients (eg collagen, Vitamin C)
- Health supplements with beauty benefits (eg collagen supplements, Vitamin C supplements)
- Traditional tonic products with beauty benefits (eg fish maw, bird’s nest)
This Report only covers edible beauty products for adults, while products for infants, children and adolescents are excluded from the consumer survey and scope
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Executive summary
- Key issues covered in this Report
- Definition
- What you need to know
- The market
- Market factors: although consumption barriers still exist, the outlook for edible beauty is promising across all segments
- Companies and brands
- Marketing activities: innovation is active in every segment, but it is solely focused on proving effectiveness and cross-category marketing/expansion
- The market share of new edible beauty products in China is increasing annually, with more MFH ingredients appearing in new product varieties across sub-categories
- Graph 1: ingredients with high growth in edible beauty launches, by food*, drink and vitamin & dietary supplements, 2020-24.
- Graph 2: share of new launches with beauty claims in food*, drink, oral rehydration and vitamins & dietary supplements, 2020-24
- Examples of products that reflect these trends: the traditional Chinese concept of ‘wellness from within’ leverages MFH ingredients to expand into food, drinks and traditional tonics
- The consumer
- Edible beauty consumption frequency is in need of a lift
- Consumption frequency is in need of a lift, with only around one in five respondents consuming edible beauty products every day
- Graph 3: usage frequency, 2024
- Improving complexion is a popular reason for consumption, but edible beauty is not the only solution
- Graph 4: purpose of consumption, 2024
- Cellular anti-ageing and anti-glycation/anti-oxidation are becoming more popular in edible beauty
- Graph 5: interest in edible beauty concepts, 2024
- Strengthen education and communication around edible beauty ingredients other than hyaluronic acid, collagen and collagen peptides
- Graph 6: efficacy associations of ingredients, 2024
- Side effects, high costs and difficulty selecting products are the biggest barriers to use
- Graph 7: barriers to consumption for edible beauty products, 2024
- Locally produced edible beauty products are welcomed, which is good news for Chinese brands
- Graph 8: preferred country of origin, 2024
- Edible beauty must enhance synergy with skincare products
- Issues and insights
- What we think
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The market
- Falling unit prices cause a contraction in value sales, but demand remains strong
- Graph 9: online unit prices of health food/dietary & nutritional supplements vs edible beauty products, 2023-24
- Graph 10: online value sales of health food/dietary & nutritional supplements vs edible beauty products, 2023-24
- Market factors
- Edible beauty products require specialised knowledge, while concerns about safety and cost may also hinder purchases
- Chinese respondents demonstrate higher usage of edible beauty products than consumers from more established health supplement markets
- Graph 11: beauty and personal care behaviour tracker, past 3 months – taken beauty supplements*, September 2024
- Domestic brands carry a price advantage, and can leverage cultural and regional strengths to grow further
- Graph 12: average prices of edible beauty products on mainstream platforms, by country of origin, January-October 2024
- Policy support will unleash huge potential in traditional tonics
- Beauty claims are evolving in the health supplement space, with ‘antioxidant’ emerging as a new approved claim in China which is expected to grow
- Marketing activities
- Partner with skincare and colour cosmetics brands to deliver superior beauty benefits
- Foster a sense of cultural identity through tracing the provenance of ingredients in traditional tonics
- Bird’s nest brands collaborate with high-end hotels to launch foodservice aimed at the premium demographic
- Borrowing from health trends in on-premise tea, leverage the concept of superfoods to empower the development of ‘beauty beverages’
- Launch co-branded menus with coffee brands to expand offline penetration
- Prove the efficacy of hair care products with backing from experts
- New product trends
- The share of new edible beauty launches in the China market is gradually catching up with the global market
- Only a small proportion of new launches in China’s food and drink market carry beauty claims, signifying huge room for growth
- Graph 13: share of new launches with beauty claims in food*, drink and vitamins & dietary supplements, 2020-24
- Graph 14: share of new launches with beauty claims in food*, drink and vitamins & dietary supplements, 2020-24
- The share of new edible beauty products in South Korea is the highest and rising annually, while mainland China and Switzerland see rapid growth over the past five years
- Graph 15: share of new launches with beauty claims in food*, drink, oral rehydration and vitamins & dietary supplements, 2020-24
- Take inspiration from ingredient applications and efficacy claims in South Korean edible beauty launches
- New food and drink launches with beauty claims are focused in a narrow area and hold a very low market share
- Graph 16: top beauty claims in new food and drink launches, 2020-24
- Graph 17: top beauty claims in vitamin & dietary supplement launches, 2020-24
- Take inspiration from edible beauty concepts featuring in a wider range of overseas products
- Traditional Chinese ingredients have diverse applications in new edible beauty launches
- Graph 18: ingredients with high growth in edible beauty launches, by food*, drink and vitamin & dietary supplements, 2020-24.
- Traditional Chinese and classic beauty ingredients feature prominently across different sub-categories of new edible beauty products
- Iron supplementation is still one of the most effective ways to replenish blood and qi, and improve the complexion
- Brands are experimenting with a wider range of ingredients and formats
- Beauty tonics are not just for females; expand the market for male premium consumers
- Anti-acne, hair health and skin allergy demands deserve attention
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The consumer
- Beauty practices and usage frequency
- Women pay more attention to enhancing their appearance and wellbeing
- Graph 19: areas for future improvement, 2024
- There are significant gender differences in beauty behaviours, particularly in the use of health supplements, cosmetics and beauty devices
- Graph 20: beauty practices, 2024
- Consumption frequency is in need of a lift, with only around one in five respondents consuming edible beauty products every day
- Graph 21: usage frequency, 2024
- Audiences for edible beauty solutions vary depending on age, income, city tier and region
- Graph 22: profile of female edible beauty consumers – solution used, by monthly household income, city tier and region, 2024
- Graph 23: profile of female edible beauty consumers – solution used, by age and marital status, 2024
- Heavy users* of beauty-boosting health supplement users are concentrated in females aged 30-39 with high monthly household incomes
- Graph 24: profile of female consumers, by beauty supplement usage frequency, 2024
- Purpose of consumption
- Improving complexion and skintone, and anti-ageing benefits are the primary reasons why women consume edible beauty supplements, aligning with their existing skin issues
- Graph 25: skin issues – female, 2024
- Graph 26: purpose of consumption, 2024
- Strengthen loyalty among female edible beauty consumers who want to improve their complexion
- Graph 27: beauty practices and usage frequency – females seeking to improve their complexion vs overall respondents, 2024
- Highlight improved complexion, firming and barrier repair to enhance the appeal of health supplements to core users
- Graph 28: purpose of consumption, by beauty supplement usage frequency, 2024
- Concepts of interest
- Fighting ageing at the cellular level is becoming an ever more popular concept in edible beauty
- Graph 29: interest in edible beauty concepts, 2024
- Anti-ageing at the cellular level, and anti-glycation + antioxidant benefits appeal more to heavy users of health supplements
- Anti-ageing at the cellular level, and anti-glycation and antioxidant benefits appeal more to heavy users of health supplements
- Graph 30: interest in edible beauty concepts, by beauty supplement usage frequency among women, 2024
- Efficacy associations of ingredients
- Consumers do not demonstrate an accurate understanding of edible beauty ingredients other than hyaluronic acid, collagen and collagen peptides, indicating a need for market education
- Graph 31: efficacy associations of ingredients, 2024
- Women have a higher awareness of ingredients; heavy users of edible beauty supplements show a more accurate understanding of niche ingredients
- Examples of edible beauty supplements using the aforementioned niche ingredients in overseas markets
- Barriers to consumption
- Side effects, high costs and difficulty selecting products are the biggest barriers to use
- Graph 32: barriers to consumption for edible beauty products, 2024
- Men are more sensitive to pricing, while females pursue definitive results
- Graph 33: barriers to consumption for edible beauty products, by gender, 2024
- Preferred country of origin
- Domestically produced edible beauty products are well received
- Graph 34: preferred country of origin, 2024
- Australian health supplements and Korean tonics hold greater mindshare; domestic brands can use this as a point of reference for innovation
- Consumers who prefer imported products in their original packaging are more likely to prefer beauty supplements from Australia, Switzerland and Canada
- Graph 35: preferred country of origin of beauty supplements, by attitudes towards local and imported products, 2024
- Attitudes towards edible beauty
- Domestically produced edible beauty products are favoured
- Graph 36: preferred country of origin for edible beauty products, 2024
- Edible beauty must enhance synergy with skincare products
- Most respondents choose high concentrations and daily usage
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Issues and insights
- Double the charm: cross-category collaboration and synergy between inner and outer beauty
- Synergy between inner and outer beauty continues to trend on social media
- Graph 37: social media mentions and engagement regarding ‘beauty benefits from internal and external wellbeing’, November 2023 – October 2024
- Marketing and NPD trend: combined solutions and beauty collaborations
- Sharing the same ingredients becomes a new approach to brand building
- Fight ageing from the inner source: cutting-edge anti-ageing thinking and ingredient synergy expand to multiple categories
- Advancement of scientific research updates the definition of endogenous ageing
- Consumers have a strong interest in the concept of orally administered cellular anti-ageing agents
- Cellular anti-ageing is gradually gaining popularity, and the prospects for edible beauty product applications are promising
- Ride the trend of traditional Chinese tonics and capitalise on Chinese consumers’ beauty needs for nourishing blood and improving complexion
- Improving complexion is the main purpose of taking edible beauty products
- Improving complexion continues to trend on social media
- Graph 38: social media mentions and engagement regarding ‘improving complexion’, November 2023 – October 2024
- Chinese concepts meet consumers’ expectations among an abundance of innovative solutions for complexion improvement
- Domestic edible beauty products’ price advantage appeals to consumers more effectively during an economic slowdown
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APPENDIX – METHODOLOGY
- Methodology
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