Mintel’s Global New Product Database (GNPD) shows that for the first half of 2024, less than half (46%) of global beauty and personal care CPG launches are genuinely new products according to our latest report The Role of Innovation in the Future of the CPG Industry. This is the lowest proportion of beauty innovation Mintel has recorded in 10 years, as in 2015 almost two-thirds (63%) of launches were genuinely new products. This means that so far in 2024, over half (54%) of beauty launches are ‘renovation’ i.e. line extensions, reformulations, new packaging, or relaunches.
 
The slowdown in innovation isn’t just true for the beauty and personal care space as Mintel’s GNPD data also shows that for the first half of 2024, only 35% of global CPG launches (across food, drink, household, health, beauty, personal care and pet care) are genuinely new products.

And, while each region has seen a decline in CPG innovation, the trend is most pronounced in North and Latin America with only 29% of CPG launches in the US being new products for the first five months of 2024, well below the global average.
 
Declining innovation comes at a time when big brands have just pushed through significant price increases, in many cases without offering consumers any additional benefits making it easier for consumers to switch to private-label alternatives. For example, in May 2024, almost a third (31%) of US adults admitted to buying more store brands over the past two months.

BPC brands have also witnessed a slowdown in launch activity compared to pre-COVID levels. While beauty companies tend to have lower barriers to entry than food and drink companies, they are also facing their share of difficulties. Higher costs of raw materials, stronger consumer scrutiny around ingredients and income squeezes have led beauty brands to rethink their business models over the past few years. For well-established brands, reformulations and range extensions are a safe investment as consumers are already familiar with their lines of hero products and the companies are able to invest in campaigns that bring a sense of newness to the launches.
 
As the digital transformation of CPG gathers pace, the old adage ‘innovate or die’ will never be truer, especially given that big brands have been growing more slowly than challenger brands and private labels. If big players fail to innovate more, this trend will dramatically increase as we enter the late 2020s.

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