This year, BioAktive is going to try something new and offer some of our predictions about the market for the coming year and how our company is positioned to address these trends. These are our thoughts, comments and insights and how we feel our products and business are positioned in 2020 and beyond.
From what we see, 2020 should be a continuation of several trends we have seen pick up steam over the past couple of years and the transition from what has been industry talk towards actual changes.
Plants and Naturals
We believe that the trend towards natural based products will continue and pick up steam in 2020. This will come in two forms. First in the mainstream, this probably will not mean growth in the traditional natural products category such as the commodity oils and extracts, but rather growth in products that have a unique value proposition. Highly Specialized and unique oils, products that are not 100% natural but that are natural derived or plant based.
We also have seen a trend in 2019 that we believe will continue which is a movement away from natural certification organizations as companies take direct ownership for assessing the credentials of the raw materials. This evaluation will likely be done in house. This is not to say that there will not be Ecocert or Cosmos, but that customers will no longer take it as a gold standard and begin assessing the "natural credentials" internally through their own documentation, such as we have seen with RSPO requirements and non-animal testing.
Secondly, we will see more growth in Vegan, organic and cruelty free products. This will likely be less prevalent with the mainstream brands and be the focus on boutique brands or of the highly specialized brands under the umbrella of larger companies.
Replacements
More companies will replace or reformulate with natural alternatives to raw materials in their formulations. Replacements for silicones, petrolatum, parabens, preservative systems, gelling agents, stabilizers and solubizers will become more prevalent as companies look for ways to reposition their portfolios and develop more natural or greener alternatives. This is a trend which began slowly a few years ago, has picked up steam in 2019 and now is reflected in BioAktive's pipeline in 2020 for products like Natralite and Castorline. This can be seen in the current trends towards aluminum free deodorant for example, and we believe that this will carry forward over the next several years.
Sustainability
While natural will remain of importance, we believe that Sustainability will take center stage along with clean beauty, ethical cosmetics, and non-polluting skincare. This will manifest in several different ways, including packaging, raw materials and manufacturing with transparency becoming more important. BioAktive has seen this trend become more important with companies who have indicated that they are interested in products such as HydraMaxx that satisfy the raw materials and manufacturing aspects, helping to reduce the energy costs of manufacturing by as much as 90%.
Retro Materials
Materials that are old or out of fashion will become popular again. A great example is the re-emergence of Niacinimide which is an old product now regaining in popularity as an anti-oxidant. Brands including Cetaphil and The Inkey List launched products with niacinamide in 2019. We are also likely to see minerals like magnesium and calcium in skin care products, designed to serve as electrolytes for the skin.
Minimalism
In line with the trends towards sustainability we are likely to see a less is more approach taking shape in 2020. This will probably take the form or mono-products with only a few ingredients, very simple serums and a generally shorter ingredients list and simple serums. Mainly we believe that this will be most notable in simpler packaging, following on the sustainability trend.
Personalized Skincare
Personalized skin care will begin maturing in 2020. Notably, we will see this through companies using technology to analyze consumer's genetics and microbiome and then offering custom products geared around that. HiMirror and Procter & Gamble's Opte Precision Wand are good examples of this. We also believe that there will be growth in brick and mortar personalized beauty, with skin care consultants and spas offering their customers premium positioned personalized semi-DIY products. BioAktive has seen growth in this space from customers, such as spas and skin clinics using HydraMaxx to make cold process emulsions on site that can be customized on site during treatment for the end user.
BioAktive
BioAktive is extremely optimistic about 2020 and beyond and has a have a very strong outlook and pipeline in place. We find ourselves well positioned for many of these trends and in many of these categories we are ahead of the curve. As one of our distributors told us at in-cosmetics asia in November, "The timing is great for your products. Everyone looking for what you are offering right now." Our product line positioning as plant based, functional ingredients is in line with the natural and sustainable trends.
This year we anticipate that our stand out products will be Natralite, Castorline and HydraMaxx, with additional interest in DermaMaxx and Astaxanthin.
Natralite, which is a plant based emollient with a luxurious silicone feel, has tremendous interest in the market, both from large established brands and boutique brands for skin and haircare applications. The primary factors are interest in replacing silicones with greener alternatives and the demand for emollients that do not leave a greasy or oily feel. In particular in Asia, the dry and smooth silicone touch of Natralite is appealing.
Castorline, an vegan alternative to petrolatum, is also well positioned, with projects in pipeline and in development in the US, Europe and in Asia. We find ourselves competitive on pricing due to economies of scale and product performance has been outstanding. The product is RSPO and fits well with the market trends giving complete traceability on the raw materials. The products is also suitable for lip protection which should be hot in 2020.
HydraMaxx, a cold process emulsion concentrate, is showing great interest from the market. Originally designed for convenience and scalability, this product is about simplification for the emulsion process, requiring only water to build an emulsion or emulsion base without heating or homogenization. Interest has also come in other forms, with larger brands that like the sustainability or reducing the energy costs of manufacturing.
Other products continue to show interest in the market, including BioAxta Astaxanthin, a potent antioxidant, and Camellia Japonica oil, where our quality is high and pricing very competitive. Our Olive Range, led by Squalane and Squalene continues to support our existing customers.
We continue to develop new products and grow our portfolio, including the expansion of existing ranges and new product areas. This year we will be launching a third version of Natralite, rounding out the range with a product for longer playtime and we are in development of a new version of Castorline. For new products, we are working on new concepts focusing on sustainability and functionality.
BioAktive's distributor network has expanded in 2019 with a strong group of partners. This year, we expanded our coverage to include Italy, Japan, Malaysia and the US West Coast. Combined with our existing distributors, BioAktive has extensive reach and can provide technical support to our customer. In 2020, BioAktive will continue to expand its distribution footprint in the US to cover the East Coast and South East. In Europe, we hope to launch new distribution partnerships in France, the Nordics and Eastern Europe. In Asia, we hope to finalize coverage of Asia with the addition of the Philippines and Indonesia and are expecting growth with our distributors in Japan and India. We are deeply appreciative of the partnership and great support of our distributors.
Finally, this year BioAktive has launched BSP Sourcing, a separate brand for strategic sourcing and supply chain solutions. This move helps to create two specific brand identities around the different parts of our business. BioAktive, with a new website and brand design, is sustainable and nature inspired range of plant based functional ingredients for personal care and cosmetics. BSP, with its own website and brand identity, focuses on sourcing and solutions for companies leveraging our extensive supplier network and china offices to provide high quality and competitive prices on raw materials.
About BioAktive
BioAktive is a supplier of functional, plant-derived ingredients for use personal care and cosmetics. Our products are inspired by nature and designed to provide real value and functionality for our customers as they develop products in skin care, hair care, cosmetics, soaps and toiletries. Our portfolio includes natural-derived alternatives to common chemical products such as silicone oils and petroleum jelly as well as plant based functional ingredients such as our emulsion concentrates and other lipid based emollients. BioAktive is BioAktive Specialty Products, part of BioAktive Group Inc, a US company supplying best in class ingredients, raw materials and solutions across industries.