Organic Monitor will present the first Asia-Pacific Sustainable Cosmetics Summit. The event will take place in Hong Kong over the course of two days, November 7-8 2011.

The focus of the summit will be to promote the establishment of natural and organic products within the region. Organic Monitor states that one of the main reasons for the focus of the summit on natural and organic beauty products is that the Asian region is lagging behind in terms of both production and take-up.

Major Source of Natural Ingredients
Organic Monitor points out that the slow growth of the naturals categories comes despite the region having over 3.5 million hectares of organic farmland and the fact that it is a major source of natural ingredients.

However, in spite of the advantages of such a vast amount of organic farmland at home, very few companies are involved in the production and marketing of these products. Instead, it is the European and American brands which are capitalizing on the business opportunities within the market, driven by the fact that consumer demand is higher.

One of the reasons for being behind is the lack of technical knowledge and expertise in green formulations, Organic Monitor says.

Workshops Address Various Issues
In order to address the lack of knowledge amongst Asian businesses, the summit will open with a workshop covering major formulation issues linked to natural and organic cosmetics. Furthermore, advice on natural alternatives to synthetic chemicals such as parabens and phthalates will be shared, as well as practical information on developing ‘chemically clean’ cosmetics.

A business and marketing challenges workshop will also be featured at the summit; it will provide the latest market data and key developments as well as highlighting some of the major marketing and distribution obstacles to growth in the Asian market.

The issue of practical sustainable initiatives for Asian companies will also be addressed in a sustainability best-practices session; and the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) will talk of the future of roundtables in commodity sourcing.

Other workshops will focus on topics such as ayurveda in cosmetics; green ingredients and formulations; actives for skin whitening; formulating with traditional Asian herbs; and developing paraben-free preservative systems.

“Natural, organic and sustainability are becoming an integral part of the beauty industry in the western world,” says Amarjit Sahota, president of Organic Monitor. “We are taking the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit to Asia to show sustainable development should not be confined by geographical boundaries.”