DSM aims to fill niche in skin care

Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn of The Nation talks with Yusuke Saito, regional director for personal care and aroma ingredients, DSM Personal Care, Asia Pacific, on the company’s expansion plan for its personal care business here and in other potential markets in the region. 

HOW DO YOU SEE THE POTENTIAL OF BLUE LIGHT AND SUN PROTECTION PRODUCTS IN ASEAN, ESPECIALLY THAILAND? WHAT IS THE ATTITUDE OF THAI AND ASEAN CONSUMERS TOWARDS SUCH SUN PROTECTION GOODS?

Across Asia, consumers are becoming increasingly conscious and concerned about skin care, and interested in the use of specialised products for their skin. Air pollution, rising temperatures and greater access to information on the adverse impact of the sun, have driven consumer demand for products with benefits such as anti-ageing and dark spot reduction. Asia’s sun care product market has close to doubled from a value of US$1.24 billion in 2006 to US$2.41 billion in 2016.
In Thailand, huge opportunities are waiting to be tapped in the sun protection product industry. Greater accessibility to information online and preference for fair skin have boosted appetite for sun protection products in recent years amongst Thai consumers. The country's sun protection product industry is worth at least US$8 million (Bt2.9 billion) based on last year’s double-digit growth of 11 per cent. 
As sun protection addressing UV light becomes an increasingly integral part of skin care routines among consumers across Asia, DSM is now focusing on raising awareness around the health risks associated with long-term exposure to blue light, which is present both outdoors and indoors.
Traditionally, blue light exposure had been associated with time spent outdoors (sunlight contains UV and blue light). Now, however, blue light has come indoors too, through the increased use of digital devices, and is posing a new and increasing harmful threat to our skin. The intensity of blue light emitted by digital device screens reaches 80 per cent of the intensity of a blue sky, and more people are using digital screens today than ever before, and for longer. Worse, there’s low public awareness of the potential for blue light to cause damage to the skin – which it does by triggering chemical reactions that weaken the skins functionality.

In Southeast Asia, more than half the population now uses the Internet every day (53 per cent) via some form of digital device. In Thailand, a typical internet user spends on average more than a third of their day using a computer or tablet and about four hours every day using a mobile phone. This daily dependence on electronic devices will grow heavier in the future with the ubiquity of digital and rising consumer purchasing power.

DSM Personal Care has introduced its “In & Out” skin care solution to allow skincare manufacturers and beauty brands to introduce protection from both UV and harmful blue light rays in their skincare products, meeting growing consumer demand as Thailand and the rest of Asia becomes more and more digital. 

We’re the first to bring together two formulations in a single skin care product to provide protection from UV rays and blue light both indoors and outdoors, working inside the skin’s layers and outside, on the skin’s outermost layer. With the external broad-spectrum sun screen and internal bioactive ingredient protection, DSM Personal Care now has one of the broadest product portfolios on the market.

DO YOU HAVE ANY INVESTMENT PLAN FOR SETTING UP ANY FACILITY REGARDING PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT, MANUFACTURING AND LOGISTICS IN THAILAND? 

We opened our Asia Pacific Technical & Application Centre in Shanghai last year to provide localised product applications and tailor-made solutions for customers in the cosmetic industry, supported by local technology services. We do this by tracking local market trends and customer needs, and working closely with external partners including universities, scientific research institutes and industry bodies.
Looking ahead, we see huge opportunities waiting to be tapped in Thailand’s sun protection product industry and are focusing on customer services to support the “In & Out” solution now available to skincare manufacturers and beauty brands across the region, including Thailand. 
We also continue to encourage our partners to support our investment in new technologies, joining the endeavour to bring about a fundamental change in the way we approach sun care.

DO YOU HAVE LONG TERM BUSINESS PLAN FOR ASEAN AND THAILAND IN THE NEXT 3-5 YEARS? WHAT ARE BUSINESS AMBITIONS YOU WOULD LIKE TO ACHIEVE OVER THE PERIOD AND WHAT ARE KEY STRATEGIES THAT HELP YOU TO ACHIEVE THE AMBITIONS?

There are two key strategies that drive our business – innovation and sustainability. 
In an industry where end-consumer demands are ever-changing, and more so in the Asia region with its diverse market segments, we’re taking a dual approach to innovation for our market-leading skin care products and formulations. We do this by constantly expanding our own internal innovation pipeline, as well as engaging in open innovation to gain early access to new ideas in the market. 
As a result, today we have an extremely broad portfolio spanning vitamins and active ingredients for facial skin, body, hair and sun care formulations, matched with a unique breadth of development services (from formulation expertise and technical support to regulatory approvals). But we remain committed to continually innovating with agility and flexibility to meet the evolving beauty and skincare demands of consumers and new industry trends across Southeast Asia, including Thailand. 
When it comes to sustainability, this is something DSM has built into the very core of its business and it takes many forms. With ‘green chemistry’ in mind, DSM Personal Care is focused on delivering science-based, sustainable and scalable “Brighter Living” solutions for the industry. As an example, within our Personal Care business we have moved the ‘naturals’ trend beyond the incorporation of natural ingredients to protecting the natural environment through sustainability. 
Specifically, for our new “In & Out” innovation for complete sun protection and skin care, we have brought it to market by focusing on three key steps: optimising our business model to become more cost competitive in the market, innovating for new formulations crucial to the success of sun protection products, and focusing on delivering a holistic package of customer services.
 This approach has paid off and the solution is available now for skincare manufacturers and beauty brands in Asia Pacific. Looking forward, the key is raising awareness around the health risks associated with long-term exposure to blue light, and its presence both outdoors and, increasingly, indoors. 
Both consumer and industry need to adapt for the needle to move from the current association with time spent outdoors and blue light’s harmful effects on the eyes, to a heightened awareness of the potential for blue light to cause damage to the skin and indoors. Our scientists are also addressing the need for more information that can be readily accessible to consumers, and the question that keeps coming up is whether we need a new label or seal for a Blue Light Protection Factor – BPF.