Question: What do Europe and Asia have that is just emerging here in North America?
Answer: A recognized and defined sector addressing nutritional products ingested for health and beauty reasons, aka Nutricosmetics.

At least that is the synopsis of those attending the inaugural Nutricosmetic Summit this past week in Las Vegas. The crowd was an interesting mix of ingredient players and finished product manufacturers (with a couple retailers in the mix too), with interests that quickly leaped from topical to ingestible and back again. The diversity of questions was reflective of the audience and its interests, and with both emerging and practiced CEOs available for the Q and A, examining current sector status and challenges was a real life exercise.

I spent most of my time in the regulatory and science track. My takeaway’s included the fact that regulatory ambiguity does not really exist, it is marketing ambiguity that creates a perception of regulatory ambiguity. Secondly, whether it is topical or ingestible, the juncture between science and marketing is the hot spot where a lot more work needs to occur. And finally, the nuances of the ‘personal care’ space create both opportunity and challenge. By this I mean that there is a whole layer of product appearance and other technical characteristics that need to be considered to support viability in the market. The technical discussions I was involved in dug specifically into color and stability issues, in addition to dermal versus oral absorption factors.

My overarching takeaway from this event was the fact that attendees gathered at 8 in the morning, stayed till 5, interacted in a huge way at any and all opportunities, engaged eagerly at the CEO Q and A, and while they certainly did not have all their questions answered, in general, felt like they had been part of a community that got powerfully launched. (Ok, so I’m a bit biased).

Stay tuned for the continuing evolution and development of this community. Frankly, there are billions of dollars at stake.