People are becoming increasingly wary of the effects consumer products on their bodies. The demand for mild, pure, biodegradable and natural ingredients is presenting new opportunities for the personal care surfactant markets.

Personal care surfactants are used to reduce surface tension between oil and water phases of formulation in order to stabilise the mixture.

This Frost & Sullivan report analyses the European market for personal care surfactants. It incorporates eight geographic regions and four segments of this market: anionic, non-ionic, cationic and amphoteric surfactants. Each of these markets is divided into application areas. It is the perfect resource for compa-nies that want to take advantage of key market opportunities.

Differentiation Crucial to Increasing Market Share

Product lines of major personal care surfactant competitors are very similar. Only niche participants are developing more advanced products. Major formulators have a great deal of influence over surfactant producers because of the limited number of surfactant consumers in the concentrated market.

"This makes it difficult to attract new customers," states the author of this report. "Service quality is now as important, if not more critical, than improving product quality."

One area of the market that holds potential is age-related products, such as anti-wrinkle creams and hair rinses. This segment should increase as European populations becomes older and more accustomed to daily use of these types of specialised personal care products.

Lower Prices Lead to Market Consolidation

"The main challenge facing the European personal care surfactant market is product price," states the author. "With volume growth steady and severe downward price pressures from customers, margins are tight for surfactant producers. In a competitive market, consolidation will become a key feature in future developments." Companies seeking greater efficiency will look to acquire new technologies, threatening niche operators and larger participants who are failing to generate adequate profits.

In order for a company to survive in this market, it must apply a number of strategies including mergers and acquisitions, alignment to end-users and globalisation of activities. This study can play a crucial role in business strategies by providing you with the most up-to-date market intelligence available.