Gold embellishment is a sign of increasing affluence worldwide – like this fragrance by the German brand George, Gina and Lucy called “Wild Gold.” The willingness to spend money on expensive luxury cosmetics is therefore also growing. (Photo: Deutscher Verpackungspreis)

As the Interpack 2014 trade fair in Düsseldorf, Germany approaches—May 8-14, 2014—Messe Düsseldorf provides an overview of packaging trends visitors are likely to encounter.

The cosmetic industry faces extremely diverse requirements on the behalf of its consumers. While luxury articles presented in glossy packaging are growing in popularity, another beauty trend is embracing sustainability in response to the growing market for natural cosmetics with resource-conserving packaging.

As such, packaging manufacturers and packaging machinery suppliers must remain flexible to consumer needs.

Aspiring to naturalness and sustainability, another beauty product trend is “back to nature!” Carl Edelmann is following this trend – the folding cartons for the “alverde” cosmetic products are made from 80 percent recycled materials. (Photo: Deutscher Verpackungspreis)

The world is becoming more affluent, and people want to indulge in luxuries. This is evident by the fact that more expensive cosmetics are being sold today than ever before. Lavish and upscale packaging is commonly used for perfumes, lipstick and creams. Even the outer appearance has to promise quality and extravagance and offer as much utility as possible.

But in the beauty sector, there is also a contradictory trend, with “back to nature” being the credo of many consumers. Attaching importance to naturalness and sustainability, they go for natural cosmetics, for which luxury packaging would seem to be counterproductive.

According to a current study by auditors and accountants KPMG and commercial researchers IFH Köln, the German market for natural cosmetics is set to grow by 7% per year until 2020 – more than any other cosmetics segment.

Cosmetics suppliers are thus faced with a difficult task: they not only have to cater to two contrasting trends, but also have to deal with increasingly choosy consumers.

“It is now becoming obvious that the influence packaging design has on consumers reached its promotional peak. From now on, it will be a question of showcasing the product itself. In the aesthetics of package design, the trend towards purity and authenticity is juxtaposed with a conflicting trend towards complexity and exoticism,” explains trend researcher Peter Wippermann, Professor for Communication Design in Essen, Germany.

Less Sheen, More Green

The issues concerning aesthetic packaging designs are complex; the inflated cost of energy and raw materials is an obstacle to the production of elaborate packaging.

Although there is a demand for perfumes in glass bottles with real gold print, they are unlikely to become mainstream. Peter Wippermann believes that companies will increasingly embrace sustainability practices and attempt to curb costs by abandoning certain materials in favor of new combinations.

Beauty specialists: as in 2011, the companies of the Italian Coesia Group will again be presenting numerous new machines for the production of cosmetics packages at this year’s interpack. (Photo: Messe Düsseldorf)

The trend researcher cites the example of Gillette that is using moldable cellulose from renewable bamboo and reed fibers for secondary packaging.

Other companies are also following this trend. Packaging specialist, Carl Edelmann, for example, has developed a collapsible box for natural cosmetics that embodies ecological practices coupled with high quality.

The box is made of 80% recycled materials and is printed with oil-free inks produced exclusively with renewable resources and green electricity. According to Carl Edelmann, the carbon footprint in production is 76% reduced compared to conventional packaging.

Cosmetics suppliers can substantially reduce their emissions through alternative packaging processes. For their part, consumers can feel good about “going green” in their purchasing behavior.

Another way to conserve resources is by utilizing packaging made of special materials that may be emptied more efficiently.

Tubes and shower gel packages are very popular with consumers for practical and aesthetic reasons, although it is often difficult to get the last drops of the product out of them. When disposed of, these packages often still contain sizable product residues.

Researchers at the Technische Universität München in Germany are therefore developing packaging with the lotus effect, for example. The cosmetic contents adhere poorly to the water-repellent surface structure of the material, and it is therefore easier to completely empty the package.

Another solution is readily pliable tubes susceptible to creasing so the contents can be squeezed out more easily.

At the Interpack 2014 trade fair in Düsseldorf, Germany from May 8-14, 2014, visitors can see the broad range of the products packaging manufacturers are creating to meet market requirements. interpack guarantees plenty of exciting insights, as packaging specialists are ceaseless in their efforts to innovate and to boost efficiency. Of the approximate 2,700 interpack exhibitors, more than 1,160 will showcase products for the cosmetics industry.

Increasingly Efficient Packaging Technology

Traditional brand images often make it impossible to give the packaging a new, ecological face. For the relaunch of the Nivea brand, in which packaging specialists Weener was involved, the emphasis was on a return to the brand’s roots and user-friendliness.

Manufacturer Beiersdorf is continuing to resort to classical PET bottles for the Nivea body care series. The image has undergone a change in terms of design, and the new overall package is said to be memorable and minimalistic with clear, tidy labeling, a slender, rounded, pleasant-to-touch bottle and gently sloping shoulders which almost seamlessly merge into the straight, upward-pointing closure.

To conserve resources and cut costs in packaging production and filling, groups like Beiersdorf have high expectations of filling and packaging technologies.

“There is a trend towards ever-faster and more reliable packaging machinery. By using them, companies can shrink their ecological footprint and also cut costs,” states Oliver Bernd, production expert at Deutsches Verpackungsintitut in Berlin, Germay.

Beiersdorf, for instance, claims to sell its Nivea body care line in 200 markets worldwide. Because different regions demand different product quantities, the bottle sizes have to vary. Weener, which produces the closures and supplies the injection molds for them, therefore has to ensure that the packaging can be handled without any interruption on all production lines at all filling plants worldwide.

Efficiency and production security are all-important for Beiersdorf. Rejected packaging and frequent stoppages, on the other hand, waste resources and increase costs.

Higher Production, Lower Costs

Increasing availability in production lines is also top priority for the French L’Oréal cosmetics group. The company also sells strong brands that cannot readily be marketed in a downscaled, ecological package.

To ease the rising prices of raw materials, L’Oréal is putting its suppliers to the test. To optimize the filling processes on its make-up line, it has invested in the latest production technology from the German packaging and process specialist, Bosch Packaging – who use, among other things, a piston-filling machinery of the FLK 8000 CIP Plus Series.

Piston-filling machinery are used, above all, for filling thin-bodied, thick-bodied and pasty products. The FLK from Bosch raises efficiency and output, the company claims, and thus reduces production costs despite rising prices.

“We were looking for a flexible and extensible machine that can also be cleaned during operation,” explains Pascal Sigonneau, responsible at L’Oréal for machine procurement in make-up production. “We finally opted for Bosch as it is the only manufacturer capable of offering highly efficient cleaning, particularly when machinery components are in contact with the product.” Also, the FLK Clean-In-Place process is reproducible, i.e. it can be endlessly repeated without any loss of effectiveness.

Make-up machines are considered particularly difficult to clean because most of the products are water-resistant and contain oily substances designed to stay in contact with the skin for as long as possible.

L’Oréal used to have the machines cleaned manually, which meant dismantling certain parts. Production stoppages lasting several hours were the result. The new line from Bosch operates with three tanks that can be cleaned independently of each other, meaning that two tanks are constantly in operation. “This way we’ve eliminated downtime and increased production,” says Pascal Sigonneau.

Sweden’s Norden Machinery, a subsidiary of the Italian Coesia Group and a specialist in tube-filling machinery, is also constantly working on ways to enhance the flexibility and versatility of its systems.

Norden’s most recent developments include an inspection system that detects leaky plastic and laminate tubes in-line with a 100% success rate and automatically sorts them out without interruption. The process speed thus stays high and output is not marred by rejects, which cuts costs.

“There are plenty of testing systems, but none like ours that achieves 100% results,” remarks Hans Söderström, in charge of Technology at Norden. In this Swedish process, the tubes are filled with the product and a marking gas – harmless hydrogen – and sealed. Then they are squeezed gently on the sides.

Any escaping gas, however small the quantity, immediately triggers a hydrogen sensor, the key element of the inspection system – and the faulty tube is ejected from production. Innovations like this one ensure that high-quality packaging is not affected by the rising prices of energy and raw materials.