Can you tell us a bit about yourself: who are you, where do you come from, what do you do?
Damien Sineau is the founder of ALPHANOVA SANTÉ, a French company specialising in natural and organic cosmetics, founded in 2008. Its products (sun care, skin cosmetics, baby care) are sold in specialist organic channels, chemists and drugstores. He has been a board director of COSMEBIO for five years, the last two as Chairman.
The future is starting to look a little brighter for the organic sector. What does the situation look from your perspective?
I am pleased to see specialist organic retail beginning to pick up again. The recent communications from La Vie Claire, Biocoop, Bio Monde and Accord Bio seem to provide confirmation of this.
The upturn is mainly evident in dry and chilled products, while non-food categories have continued to suffer in the past few months. Nevertheless, we remain confident. Just like for food, the recent drop in the popularity of organic labels in mass retail could have a knock-on effect: consumers in search of choice will come back to specialist retail, which is additionally making more of an effort to propose attractive prices. Nonetheless, to revitalise the section, the retail sector needs to expand its offering again to bring consumers the choice they expect.
What are COSEMBIO’s projects to support the sector?
Our mission has always been to drive organic cosmetics, whatever the retail channel. A considerable educational effort still has to be made to get the message through to the consumer that only certified organic cosmetics are genuinely natural cosmetics.
There are too many opportunistic market players out there engaging in greenwashing, and it is often difficult to distinguish a simply “natural product” from an organically certified product.
So this is what our nationwide campaign “Distinguer le bio du faux” (distinguishing organic from fake) is about: reminding people that only the COSMEBIO label guarantees authentically natural cosmetics.
In parallel, with the financial support of NATEXBIO / La Maison de la BIO, we are launching a national advertising campaign in organic shops and on social media, with a powerful message: “Do you eat organic? Why not do the same with your skin?”
It is worth recalling that organic cosmetics were born in organic shops, and that this channel benefits from a captive audience. If all the consumers of organic food also bought their cosmetics in a retail shop, the market could easily double, or event triple, in size. At COSMEBIO, we work in synergy with organic retail to identify the best growth levers:
- Improve the positioning of our shelves in the point of sale,
- Broaden the offering,
- Optimise the price positioning.
Consequently, COSMEBIO pursues two main missions:
- Raise awareness and attract more consumers to certified organic cosmetics, whatever the retail channel.
- Collaborate with organic retail to drive the health, beauty and personal hygiene section.
What are you expecting from the next edition of Natexpo in 2025?
NATEXPO is the definitive meeting place for organic professionals. Its return to Porte de Versailles should increase its media and political visibility. Over and beyond meetings between professionals, NATEXPO stands out as an essential vector to share our commitments and defend our values.
It is also a special occasion for our members, who can meet up, chat, collaborate and meet a range of market players from retail (specialist shops, sustainability-minded groups of chemists, digital platforms, etc.). Additionally, in recent years the show has drawn more international visitors, thus opening up new perspectives to the sector’s professionals.
What’s your everyday organic reflex?
I don’t consider myself to be an organic purist, but looking closer, I suppose I’ve adopted the right reflexes in my everyday life because they look like common sense to me! After a shower with organic shower gel, I start my day with a breakfast made up of ‘Céréal BIO’ crunchy muesli, organic milk and an organic coffee. I see organic as a choice for my health, in both short and long terms. It’s not just a matter of living longer, but more importantly living healthier. And to do that, nothing beats organic!