Natural foods manufacturer builds on cosmetics operations

Related tags Cosmetics

Now Foods has completed the acquisition of a contract manufacturer
of personal care and cosmetic products. The deal will allow the
company to broaden its portfolio and forms part of a continuing
trend whereby the line between food, health and cosmetic products
is becoming increasingly blurred, writes Simon Pitman.

"In addition to fulfilling our mission in a broader arena, the acquisition of Burnham Labs will enable us to capitalize on a strategic opportunity to support our goal of increasing our revenues and our rate of growth,"​ said New Foods company president Al Powers.

Burnham Labs was a part of E. Burnham Cosmetics and is located in Niles, Illinois. The company will now be integrated into the Now's operations, which centre on manufacturing nutritional, herbal and body care products.

Now​ said it has acquired all of Burnham Labs' assets, including the equipment formulas and employees necessary for its manufacturing requirements. Although the company refused to give full financial details off the acquisition, it did say that the former owners, John and Soo Chang, will become active consultants with the aim of growing the businesses' international and domestic sales.

Now said it will continue to supply Burnham's existing private label customers and expand the business through its own private label division.

"This acquisition will also help Now's expansion of the range of product offerings in the personal care category. The company will also be improving product formulas to support the core value to use natural ingredients wherever possible, believing that they are superior to synthetic ingredients,"​ a company statement said about the deal.

Currently Now's product portfolio includes antioxidants, herbal teas, natural foods and vitamin supplements. More recently the company has broken into the body, bath and skin care category, producing products such as Green Clay Powder, Wrinkle Rescue Skin Cream and Lemon Tree Soap.

Many of its products fall into the cosmeceutical category because of the use of ingredients that have a nutritional or healthy properties, beneficial to both skin and well-being.

The company's continued move into natural cosmetics highlights the trend whereby the lines between food, health and cosmetics product are becoming increasingly interwoven. The use of natural ingredients found in all of these categories, combined with increasing vitamin and mineral fortification bears testimony to this trend.

Speaking specifically about the similarities between cosmetics and healthcare products, Euromonitor's​ Karine Peyre, an analyst with the research group's cosmetics and toiletries division, said, "At Euromonitor we see that the potential for cross-market development is set to increase. This is due in part to the deregulation of many healthcare sectors, which has made consumers increasingly familiar with a wider range of OTC products. Intense media focus on health issues is also crucial, as this is continually refining consumer health awareness and stimulating increased interest."

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