While some segments in the household and personal products industry are rather sickly these days due to rising feedstock prices, there’s no denying that the wellness segment is thriving. What exactly is wellness? Well, industry observers define the segment as any product category that helps consumers feel good about themselves and fulfills a broader range of health ideals. This catch-all phrase encompasses categories such as functional food, beauty supplements and natural ingredients. According to a recent study by Datamonitor, nine out of 10 European and U.S. consumers consider improving their health to be important, and 66% reported taking more steps to improve it. Clearly, the wellness category will be a growth engine for the household and personal products industry in the future and you’ll see more wellness-related coverage in each issue of Happi.

For example, this month, Susan Eliya looks at natural ingredients, which represents just one component of the wellness segment. The article, which begins on p. 71, looks at the products and processes that industry suppliers are developing to help both multinational and regional marketers create effective natural personal care products.

We’re so sure that wellness will become a driving force in the industry that we’re launching Beauty I/O, beauty from the inside-out, this fall. This special supplement will be mailed with your regular issue and will include in-depth articles on topics such as functional foods, beauty supplements and other related topics. We’re confident that this new publication, which is being developed with our sister magazine Nutraceuticals World, will be an excellent source of information regarding the fast-growing wellness category.

But we’re geting ahead of ourselves. This edition of Happi.com includes articles on active ingredients for skin care, natural makeup and packaging trends.