Steve Katz05.09.11
Sun Care Heats Up with Crossover Claims
Dr. Benjamin Punchard, Head of Global Packaging Research, Euromonitor International, says brand owners are looking to additional benefits such as anti-aging to add value to sun care.
Within sun care packaging, sun protection dominates, accounting for 85% of the global sun care packaging market, or 815 million units in 2010. Sun protection products are commonly used by many different age groups, while affluent young urban women are the main users of aftersun and self-tanning products. Within sun protection, HDPE bottles dominate, as they are suitable for squeeze bottles with plastic dispensing closures. However consumers increasingly want the pack to assist in dosing and applying the product, and this has seen the use of functional closures such as pump and trigger sprays double on HDPE bottles between 2005 and 2010. Bottles which can be used upside down have also emerged as a new trend.
Despite consumers being more aware than ever of the dangers of the sun, unit volume growth in sun protection fell from 6% in 2008 to 3% in 2009 and only slightly recovered in 2010 to reach 4% growth. The impact was even greater in value terms with global sun care value dropping by over 1% in 2009. The key factor behind this slowdown was the recession-induced trend for consumers in key Western markets to become “staycationers,” spending holidays in their (often cooler) native countries as opposed to flying abroad to sunnier climes. According to Euromonitor International data, the total number of leisure departures globally fell from 576 million in 2008 to 553 million in 2009.
However, sun protection is considered important to skin health and, as such, consumers will not readily trade down in quality, preferring to perhaps buy smaller packs of a trusted product or looking for special offers such as “buy-one-get-one-free,” which is the cause of the sun care value decline in 2009, while packaging unit sales maintained some, albeit small, growth.
While these value offers enable a way for brand owners to maintain volume growth, value growth has also been a focus. Looking to satisfy the top end consumer as the market polarizes, manufacturers have added new claims to premium products. Consumers are increasingly paranoid not just about skin cancer, but also about the aging effects of the sun. In response to these fears, manufacturers have continued to offer more sophisticated sun protection products with cosmetic claims, such as anti-aging or age-spot prevention properties. This positions sun protection closer to premium skin care products where consumers are used to small pack sizes, leading to growth of the 50-100ml size outstripping that of the more common 101-300ml size band.
Most regions saw rather subdued packaging unit growth in sun care in 2010 compared to the previous year, with the exception of Latin America (up to over 5% in 2009 from 4% the previous year), Asia Pacific (up to 6% from 5% in 2009), and Eastern Europe (reversing a decline in 2009 to see growth of 4% in 2010). The hot climates and growing disposable income levels in the former two regions mean they are well positioned to eventually catch up with Western Europe and North America in achieving high per capita sun care sales. The economic recovery of Eastern Europe, particularly the hard hit Russian market, has benefitted sun care sales alongside most beauty and personal care categories.
Thanks to the region’s obsession with pale facial skin, Asia-Pacific accounted for 24% of global sun protection sales in 2010. Demand for high SPF products is strong among affluent consumers in the region, but more from a desire for a pale complexion than for sun protection. Skin lightening benefits are key in countries like Japan and China, and many sun care products now provide not only an SPF, but also added whitening and anti-aging features. This, alongside a growing affluent middle class in the region, will drive growth to see Asia Pacific contributing the largest absolute unit growth gains between 2010 and 2014, an increase of 49 million units.