Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Island beauty brands capitalise on indigenous ingredients

Australia and New Zealand may be saturated markets for the cosmetics and toiletries industry, but consumers’ willingness to buy a variety of complex formulated and premium green products is continually expanding revenue.

Millennial consumers especially are contributing to rising demand for independent and green brands.

Australia in numbers

In Australia, ongoing growth in the personal care product market is modest but steady, and customers are longing for new products.

This willingness to experiment makes the country an ideal testing ground for brands looking to assess products for wider markets and the frequent introduction of new products has been a key driving force in the industry’s performance over the past five years.

According to market research company IBISWorld, the launch of new shopping channels has also supported demand.

This has contributed to the beauty and personal care sector continuing to see growth in Australia in 2017, according to research company Euromonitor International, with year- on-year sales value growth in 2017 equalling that recorded in 2016.

IBISWorld added that the average annual growth in Australian toiletry product sales between 2014-19 was projected to be 2.4%. Skin care products are projected to have seen the strongest growth, driven by Australian consumers’ desire for natural and healthy skin in a sunny climate that can punish skin health.

According to IBISWorld, Australia’s annual personal care product revenues sat at AU$4bn (US$2.9bn) in June of this year.

The industry employs 18,742 people across Australia and despite Amazon entering the Australian market in 2017, Australians still value their specialty cosmetics stores. New products, particularly eco-friendly lines, have stimulated such demand in small bricks-and-mortar stores.

This has emerged from established sales of masstige products, with Australian consumers