Collagen is booming. The reason: The protein promises youthful appearance and robust health. It tightens the skin, strengthens hair, fortifies bones, and lubricates joints. The desire for a healthy lifestyle and cosmetics without animal ingredients is currently driving the demand for non-animal-derived collagen significantly. Market research firm Future Market Insights expects the global market for vegan collagen to grow by an average of 9.1 percent per year, reaching a total of $357.7 million by 2034.
A key driver is the cosmetics industry. Care Solutions has always served the industry with innovative products and solutions. Last year, the business line launched a non-animal collagen for the beauty and personal care segment: VECOLLAGE Fortify L. "The product is produced through fermentation and is 100 percent identical to the natural collagen in our skin," says Arnoldo Fonseca, responsible for bioactive substances at Care Solutions worldwide. "It enables better protection of the skin matrix—the fine network of proteins and molecules surrounding skin cells—by reducing age-related collagen breakdown and simultaneously stimulating the formation of new collagen."
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Promising Business Prospects
Clinical studies have confirmed these effects. "In-vivo studies with participants show that our product effectively reduces wrinkles, plumps the skin, and significantly improves both the elasticity and firmness of the skin after four weeks of use compared to a placebo group," says Fonseca. Thus, non-animal collagen has the best prerequisites to become a sought-after product in the anti-aging sector. "With VECOLLAGE Fortify L, consumers can maintain the youthful appearance of their skin while supporting ethical and sustainable principles," adds Fonseca's colleague Katja Skrabania, global marketing director for bioactive substances.
Hype Opens New Opportunities
As a user, Care Solutions not only has consumers in mind who want to maintain a youthful appearance as they age. A much younger target group is also in focus—keyword "Collagen Banking." This trend has gained popularity on social media and is understood as a kind of "beauty investment."The idea: to save collagen at a young age to slow down skin aging. Anti-aging experts recommend starting as early as the mid-twenties, as from this point, the skin loses about one percent of collagen annually, leading to a loss of skin elasticity and wrinkle formation. "This current hype is another driver for our business," says Skrabania.
Currently, the focus of Care Solutions' collagen portfolio is on skincare. But that is set to change. "We are working on a product for hair and scalp care, which will be launched in selected markets later this year. We are gradually expanding the application areas. Our goal: to position ourselves as the market leader for vegan collagens in the beauty and personal care market," says Fonseca.
Pioneer Health Care
The Health Care business line already offers VECOLLAN, collagen without animal ingredients, for medical applications. The colleagues were the first worldwide to produce non-animal collagen through fermentation specifically for these applications.
A particularly interesting market segment is wrinkle injection using so-called dermal fillers in aesthetic dermatology. Most dermal filler applications today use hyaluronic acid products. The downside: repeated applications can quickly lead to "pillow face," an overfilling of the face with product. Some celebrities have recently made headlines with this. The trend in medical aesthetics is therefore strongly moving towards biostimulating substances like poly-L-lactic acid.
In-vitro tests have also demonstrated a bioactive effect for VECOLLAN. Health Care sees good chances for positive business development in the field of medical aesthetics: "Unlike the classic injection of the skin with hyaluronic acid, biostimulators stimulate the body to produce new collagen and thus build up volume lost through the aging process," says Julia Born from strategic marketing in the Medical Devices sector at Health Care. "The procedure is very suitable for naturally tightening facial skin without making the face look unnatural."
Cosmetic injection procedures are becoming increasingly popular. Health Care therefore expects the market for skin fillers to grow significantly. Market researchers from Fortune Business Insights confirm this. They predict that the market size for skin fillers will grow from an estimated $5.5 billion in 2024 to approximately $10 billion by 2032.
Further potential lies in applications in wound care, regenerative medicine, improved bone regeneration in the dental field, or as coatings for implants in classical orthopedics. Health Care will soon launch VECOLLAN in a special quality for medical products.
