The “clean” trend (healthy, safe) is a strong groundswell which is noticeable in all sectors and is likely to spread to all products.
‘Clean food’, ‘clean beauty’: Sephora in the United States has just created a category under this name, and the Silicon Valley is currently experiencing a trend around “clean meat”: “in the USA, an array of start-ups have entered this segment and have already raised almost $1.5 billion from investors such as Google or Bill Gates, but also from food industry giants.” Le Monde 2018
The primary ambition of this movement towards healthy and “clean” is safety, for oneself, one’s family and friends, followed by the preservation of the environment.
Indeed, health has become the absolute priority of consumers, and considering the wave of scandals in all areas, people are very wary; for example:
- Conventional household products are toxic: doing housework is as dangerous as smoking 20 cigarettes per day[1].
- There are “worrying substances” in 185 cosmetic products in the EU (2017)[2].
- Only 30% of French people (39% in the UK) trust the beauty industry as to the safety of its products[3]
The organic sector has been one of the pioneers in “clean”: the guarantee of healthy and transparent consumption. 92% of French people say they consumed organic products in 2017[4]. Today, this movement towards cleanliness and safety challenges and amplifies the promises of natural/organic through increasingly healthy organic innovations.
For example, with allergies, food intolerance and skin complaints on the rise, the market is asking for “substance-free” products, consequently considered as being healthy. Formulae are purified, shortened, simplified with the aim of reassuring people: preservative-free, GM-free, lactose-free, nitrate-free, sulphate-free, but also zero salt, zero sugar, or more recently “zero pesticide residue.” Gluten-free looks set to become a new standard.
Shorter ingredient lists are sought-after by safety-conscious consumers, in particular when we consider that women apply 100 ingredients on the skin on average per day in 2017![5]
The “pure” guarantee is consequently the augmented promise offered by natural/organic.
PROOF IN THE PRODUCTS
Food:
- Nitrate salt-free ham, by SBV Prés Gourmands
- Frutaki Bio, sweets with 97% fruit content, no added sugar and gluten free, by Ayiure
- Ciao Le Sel Acidulé, a salt substitute, using ingredients which create an acidic flavour compensating the lack of salt in food preparations (registered patent), by Aromandise
- Gluten-free pulse couscous, by Vajra SPRL
- Chia & Coco Roo’Bar energy bar, 100% raw with only 4 to 5
ingredients, by Nature & Expression - Roscoff onion and seaweed waffles with only 5 ingredients, by Algue Service
ingredients, by Nature & ExpressionHealth food:
- Comme à la Maison de Natâma, allergen and gluten-free prepared meals (clean label), by Clarelia SAS
- Extra Pure, 94% cocoa, without soybean, gluten, lactose or palm oil and with date
sugar, by Lovechock B.V.
sugar, by Lovechock B.V. Dietary supplements:
- Ligne Duo Premium, alcohol free, excipient free and without a technological auxiliary, and carrying a quality marker on each lot, by Fitoform SAS
Cosmetics and hygiene products:
- Sulphate-free anti dandruff shampoo made from South American tree bark and
enriched with essential oils, by Florame - Menthol powdered toothpaste, fluoride free, without preservatives, allergens or additives, by SDEB Ecodis
- Swimming nappies made with 75% cellulose, 0% latex, chlorine, GMO, petrolatum, or fragrances, by par Tidoo Nature
- Le Délicat deodorant for sensitive skin, without aluminium salts, alcohol, essential oils or hydrolat, all contraindicated for pregnancy and breastfeeding, by Omum
enriched with essential oils, by Florame
[1] http://www.e-sante.fr/poumons-faire-le-menage-serait-aussi-mauvais-que-fumer-20-paquets-de-cigarettes/breve/615804
[2] UFC Que Choisir
[3] Mintel, 2017
[4] Perception and consumption of organic products barometer, Agence BIO – CSA, 2018
[5] Report by Officinea 2017