Aerosols - The shape of things to come

Aersols in the personal care sector have generally had a positive year thanks to design innovation, brand development and advertising exposure

The aerosols market is becoming increasingly global thanks to international co-operation through the high level of importing/exporting associated with aerosol production, and the links between the various national associations developed at events like the 25th International Aerosol Congress held in Athens during 2005. Strong brand support, through advertising and product development, has helped aerosols worldwide to maintain market share. The aerosol market has generally remained stable although increases have been due to cannibalisation rather than overall market growth. An example of this is the rise in the filling and sales of antiperspirants at the expense of deodorants.

The antperspirants and deodorants sector is generally very strong worldwide but is comparatively weak in the US. This is due to the extreme rapidity with which the US stopped using CFC formulations in the late 1970s compared to a few years later in Europe. To facilitate this, formulas that were nowhere near as attractive or effective were used in the US, which damaged consumer confidence in aerosols. The formulations are much more sophisticated now but once people’s habits are formed they are hard to break. As a result the sort of advertising support enjoyed in Europe by the aerosol industry has only now started to be employed in the US.

League of nations

In terms of production the German market boomed with a 10.2% increase in cans filled, representing an amazing growth in production. Further analysis of the figures reveals that this growth is only driven by export demands from other nations rather than within Germany. “The increase in total production in 2005 was, unfortunately, not caused by German demands,” comments Antje Boch of the German Aerosol Association. “The increase in production was mainly the result of the efforts and the success of some global marketers producing aerosols in Germany for markets far over the borders of Europe.”

Within the German market the sales figures for aerosol products categories remained almost unchanged in 2005 from the previous year. The most noticeable change was found within the personal care sector, with the sales figures for deodorants and antiperspirants increasing at the expense of roll-ons.

Second only to the US in terms of total fillings, the UK aerosols sector remained robust in 2005, according to the British Aerosol Manufacturers’ Association (BAMA). The UK aerosol filling figures for 2005 took a 1.2% rise on 2004 to reach 1258.7 million cans, which is hailed as a return to the positive levels of fillings seen in 2002. Sue Rogers, director of BAMA, comments: “This slight rise in overall filling is a remarkable achievement for the UK aerosol industry considering the competition it has had from fillers in Eastern Europe, the amalgamation of a few of our UK members and a general retail slowdown in this country. We are pleased that the UK aerosol industry continues to show such resilience and we will continue to do everything we can to promote innovation and maintain our place as the centre of aerosol excellence in the EU.”

The biggest growth in fillings in the personal care sector came from shaving products, hairsprays and hair mousse. Shaving product fillings rose by 15.1% to 223.7 million units, while 117.4 million hairsprays and 36.9 million hair mousses were filled in the UK during the year. Similarly, deodorant, body spray and antiperspirant fillings, which dominate UK aerosol fillings, were also up by just over 1% to 557.9 million cans.

Aerosol sales continue to grow at a comfortable rate in the South African market. “We are anticipating more exciting things in the medium to long-term as more and more of our population get to appreciate and can afford to buy personal care products in aerosol format,” says Mike Naude, executive director Aerosol Manufacturers’ Association (South Africa). “The aerosol industry in South Africa is quite vibrant and we are also expecting to see more and more of our products being exported in the future.”

However, the total of 217.5 million units filled in Australia was virtually unchanged from 2004 with a rise of just 0.03%. Philip Fleming, executive director of the Aerosol Association of Australia notes that the “only movement within the personal care categories worth commenting on is a 9% rise in the other or miscellaneous category, which covers products like body sprays and offsets the minor drops seen across virtually all other categories”.

Aluminium offerings

In 2005 aluminium aerosol cans stayed on their growth course, according to AEROBAL, the International Organisation of Aluminium Aerosol Container Manufacturers. AEROBAL estimates roughly 4.3 billion aluminium aerosol cans were produced worldwide last year, an increase of about 13% compared to 2004. The share of aluminium cans in the world aerosol can production is calculated to be around 38%. The key market for international aluminium aerosol can producers is the personal care industry, which accounts for almost 80% of deliveries. In 2005 the main product segment in the cosmetics market was deodorants with a share of 40%. Hair mousses ranked second with about 17%, followed by hairsprays with 15% and shaving foams which accounted for 3%. The share of other cosmetics was roughly 5%.

“In many of the target markets about 80% of purchasing decisions are taken spontaneously at the point of sale,” says Gregor Spengler, secretary general of AEROBAL. “In such an environment the times of uniform packaging are over. ‘Be different’ is the order of the day with the aim to create packaging with an unmistakeable face. Given the abundance of brands and other products, packaging design is playing a key role in creating an in-store benefit because attractive packaging largely increases the recognition value of the product on the shelves. Thanks to the flexible impact extrusion technology and the excellent formability of the metal, aluminium aerosol can producers can offer a great variety of shaping and embossing possibilities as well as various shoulder types. The sleek lines of shaped aluminium aerosol cans catch the consumer’s eyes and convey a feeling of elegance, style and individuality. Together with the shine of aluminium and modern printing technologies, aluminium aerosol cans open up new horizons to creative packaging designers.”

The winner of AEROBAL’s 2006 World Aluminium Aerosol Can Award in the can already on the market category is a specially shaped can for Fruttini Strawberry Smoothie Shower Mousse. It combines the creative Evolution shape with attractive product design that required many colour separations to achieve realistic looking strawberries and smooth looking lines and circles. It was adapted for 45mm diameter, 150ml volume, a popular size in a lot of categories, particularly deo sprays. The other aluminium winner was in the prototype category and this has gone to an aerosol that was debossed inline, a world first for an aluminium can. The debossing runs the whole length of the can. It also resists burst pressure as well as meeting standards of internal coatings. The debossing is inside so gives the packaging a unique facing and brand identity.

Increasingly brands are bringing through aesthetic improvements that have specific attributes for the personal care market. Over the past year the importance of this trend has increased. Shaped aerosol cans are ergonomic and user friendly and the physical shape can provide a better hand grip for wet-use products. Aerosol manufacturers are also using shaping techniques and new print finishes to create greater shelf impact. Brand differentiation can be successfully achieved by using uniquely shaped cans, rather than relying on cap design or decoration, and also by using other features such as embossing, tactile textures and gloss effects.

A high profile can to reach the market this year, backed by heavy brand advertising, was Gillette’s shaped 200ml shaped aerosol for shaving gel, antiperspirant and deodorant, produced by Crown. Made using a proprietary blowforming process, the can was launched to coincide with the 2006 FIFA World Cup tournament, for which Gillette was an official sponsor. Through shaping and display effects the can is actually designed to resemble a football and is contoured in an easy-to-grip shape, facilitating product dispensing.

Legislative hurdle

A key point of contention in the aerosol industry over the past year has been a dispute over aerosol legislation. This has seen aluminium aerosol can producers reject a cold alternative to the hot water bath test, a key part of the relevant safety legislation. Recently legislative changes have been adopted at UN and EU level allowing a cold alternative test to the hot water bath test on aerosol cans. The UN Sub-Committee on the Transport of Dangerous Goods included this alternative in the UN Model Regulations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (chapter 6.2.4.2.2.2) in 2005, and the EU Commission also intends to include the reference to this alternative in the revision of the Aerosol and Dispenser Directive 75/324/EEC (article 6.1.4.1, point (3)), due to be published by the end of 2006. At the spring meeting of AEROBAL, members, who represent about 70% of world aluminium aerosol can production, repeatedly criticised and rejected the cold alternative test method. The hot water bath test examines the entire packaging system (the finished filled can) on pressure resistance and leakage at a pressure existing in a water bath of 50°C. The cold alternative test method would mean that the finished filled aerosol container is no longer pressure tested. Instead, only a pressure test of the empty container and a leakage test of the filled container in the upper part of the can is conducted. Concerns are that this could raise safety and product liability risks for all parties involved in the supply chain, a possibility that has been confirmed by two European law firms.

AEROBAL says its members are highly interested in innovative alternative test methods on the proviso that the same safety levels as those achieved with the hot water bath test are guaranteed. Such alternatives include hot alternative test methods available such as the so-called shower bath system which meets with the same safety requirements as the hot water bath test and which is also covered by the new EU legislation. Unlike the cold alternative test, both the tried and tested hot water bath test and the innovative shower bath system ensure the safety level needed along the entire supply chain.

Costs & solutions

The industry looks set to continue to grow steadily in the future. Potential future problems could lie in high raw material and energy costs, which put profit margins in the industry under pressure. The other difficulty is to further educate consumers on the recycling of aerosols and get the fact that aerosols do not contain CFCs universally acknowledged.

“Just five years ago we estimated that only 7% of local authorities were collecting empty aerosols for recycling in the UK,” says Dr Paul Jackson, technical manager at BAMA. “Now our latest figures show that over 75% of local authorities are recycling them. It’s simple really, as recycling empty aerosols safely does not require a new collection scheme, they are just collected along with other metals. Our research shows that the message is clearly getting through to more and more councils, but now we need to encourage consumers to take part. CFCs were removed from aerosols by industry over 15 years ago, though it seems some consumers are still unaware of this.”