Prospects for Tubes in Beauty and Personal Care

Rosemarie Downey, Packaging Research Manager, Euromonitor International, says the future is bright for the squeezable plastic tube.

By Rosemarie Downey, Packaging Research Manager at Euromonitor International.

The squeezable plastic tube enjoys greatest penetration in Beauty and Personal Care; this industry accounts for 94% of global retail plastic tube sales across the FMCG market and has recorded a healthy rise in demand for the tube to the tune of 4% CAGR over 2005 to 2010.

Oral and skin care purchases alone account for 78% of tube demand in the Beauty and Personal Care industry with toothpaste the leading global end-use category for the plastic tube in both 2010 sales and growth, with global retail demand set to exceed 10 billion units by end of 2011. Category expansion in leading end-uses of toothpaste and skin care is a further growth driver with more specialist product variants on offer to consumers.

Innovation in the wider provision of specialist skin care solutions, such as for the eye area, is just one example that generates a need for a pack that delivers on dosing and precision of application. The tube emerges as a winning solution with a number of small diameter tubes being launched across added-value cosmetic applications.

Product segmentation with a more targeted product offering provides for an upbeat global performance. As brand owners continue to offer specialist beauty care products to answer differing consumer needs, this is resulting in a healthy rising demand for tubes. In skin care, the array of facial care products, targeted at specific age groups, skin types and skin problems in creams and gel formulations, holds good opportunity for tubes. The use of narrow diameter tubes for added-value concentrated serums and gels additionally allows for precise application where needed. Meanwhile, in toothpaste, there is a widening range of children’s and baby formulations in smaller pack sizes creating an increased demand for squeezable plastic tubes. In Germany, brand leaders like Colgate have launched age-specific toothpaste lines with Colgate Smiles 0-2, Smiles 2-6 and Smiles 6+. As such, retail value sales of children’s toothpaste in Germany rose a healthy 8% in 2010.

As developing market economies rise in sophistication and consumers increase their purchase of mainstream and premium beauty product lines, so too, demand for the squeezable plastic tube is on the up.

Asia Pacific is alone, forecast to account for 63% of global unit volume sales growth for squeezable plastic tubes over 2010 to 2014 in the Beauty and Personal Care industry with toothpaste and facial skin care products to head up volume gains.

China, Indonesia and India specifically are forecast to lead in the growth stakes for squeezable plastic tube sales in skin care, expected to account for 68% of global gains for squeezable plastic tubes in facial skin care over 2010-2014.

In China, facial skin care products with skin-lightening ingredients are performing exceptionally well and a key driver to facial care growth in a country where pale skin is commonly associated with beauty. Many new product developments in 2010 in China, indeed across Asia Pacific, offered skin-lightening properties.

Men’s grooming is one of the bright spots of the Beauty and Personal Care industry with total retail value expenditure up 3% CAGR over 2005 to 2010, second only to sun care, to reach US$29.6 billion. In packaging, the squeezable plastic tube has similarly shown a unit volume CAGR growth of 4% to 2010, characterized by sales in men’s pre-shave and further boosted by the strong sales indicated in male-specific hair care, skin care and bathing product lines.

Overall, an optimistic outlook is forecast for the squeezable plastic tube. Volume growth opportunities to 2014 will be largely shaped by the dynamics of emerging market economies. Asia Pacific and Latin America are forecast to deliver most lucrative regional growth prospects, primarily though toothpaste while skin care and men’s grooming hold potential in the more developed European region.