Mask Off... The Inner Beauty Market Also Brightens Up

Outdoor Mask Mandate Lift Boosts Inner Beauty Market
Inner Beauty Market Surpasses 1 Trillion Won... Growth Expected to Continue

hy 'MPRO4' 2 types. Photo by hy

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] As the outdoor mask mandate was lifted and sales of cosmetics increased, the food industry is also paying attention to the inner beauty market.

According to a report from Shinhan Financial Investment Research Center on the 31st, the domestic inner beauty market exceeded 1 trillion won last year, growing about 40% in three years compared to 721.6 billion won in 2019. The industry expects the inner beauty market to reach 1.1942 trillion won this year and surpass 1.9 trillion won by 2025.

Inner beauty is a compound word of ‘Inner’ and ‘Beauty,’ meaning beauty from within. In the industry, it is widely used to refer mainly to foods related to skin health such as collagen. Until now, inner beauty foods have mainly been handled by pharmaceutical companies or health functional food manufacturers. However, recently, food companies are also entering the market one after another.

In February, hy launched ‘Jang & Skin Dual Care MPRO4,’ which sold more than 600,000 units in the month of its release and doubled to 1.22 million units in March. Last month, 1.35 million units were sold, showing an average monthly sales growth rate of about 50%. This product is a health functional food focused on skin health and contains HY7714, a skin-functional probiotic recognized by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. It is popular across all age groups as it manages both skin and gut health.

Nongshim’s health functional food ‘Lypil Derma Collagen’ also surpassed cumulative sales of 55 billion won two years after its launch in March. It is characterized by building a lineup of various formulations based on collagen products.

Maeil Dairies’ health functional food line ‘Selex Milk Ceramide,’ launched in October last year, has seen about 50% monthly sales growth from January this year to the present. CheongKwanJang introduced ‘Skin Health Aloe Gel Stick,’ a health functional food made primarily from premium aloe certified by the International Aloe Science Council this month, and Daesang is preparing to enter the inner beauty market by filing a trademark for the ‘Beauty One’ brand.

The industry expects that as the hot summer begins and mask-wearing becomes less common, interest in inner beauty products will increase along with rising sales of cosmetics. An industry official said, “Since COVID-19, interest in health functional foods has increased, expanding demand for inner beauty-related products. The inner beauty business is continuously expanding in the global market, so the domestic market will also grow larger than it is now.”