In speaking with brands and suppliers for this month’s cover feature on Environmentally Responsible Packaging in the Beauty World, the one thing that’s clear is that the issue is more complex than ever.

Beauty consumers, it seems, are gravitating to one of two preferences: luxury goods in lavish packaging, or “all-natural” cosmetics that are housed in packaging that reflects a brand’s earth-friendly ethic.

Thus, packaging suppliers are faced with the daunting challenge of meeting goals across the board. And lots of progress is being made in merging the two channels. While great strides have been made with packaging that is recyclable, made of less pieces, light weighted and more, many suppliers have also updated their facilities and supply chains to make the whole production and manufacturing process “more sustainable.” The overall good news is that both markets are going at full speed, targeting luxe looks as well as environmental and operational efficiency.

According to Kline & Company, the natural personal care market posted a healthy 10.6% increase globally to reach $29.5 billion at the manufacturers’ level in 2013, and is expected to reach $46 billion by 2018—no doubt prompting further developments in environmentally responsible packaging.

And Transparency Market Research reports that the global demand for personal care packaging is expected to top $25 billion by 2019.

New Board Members

This month, Beauty Packaging welcomes two new members to its Board of Advisors: Henry Renella, senior vice president for global package development, The Estée Lauder Companies; and Marc Rosen, internationally renowned cosmetic and fragrance packaging designer. They are stepping in for Scott Widro and Alan Hafkin who we thank for their generous participation over the last few years.

Show Season

As you’ll see with all the event previews and reviews in this issue, we’re at the height of the industry’s trade show season. Jay Gorga and I look forward to seeing you at your booths and in the aisles.

As always, we hope you enjoy this issue. And don’t forget to download our app at beautypackaging.com

Jamie Matusow
[email protected]