HUM Nutrition announced the launch of its new Collagen Pop product yesterday, partnering with the France-based international beauty retailer Sephora to display the product in their window cases.
The product ticks all the trending typologies of today’s beauty shopper—tablets that dissolve into a photogenic fizzy drink in a rose-scented ‘Millennial Pink’ blush.
“Collagen Pop is a fun new way to take collagen that not only tastes amazing but also helps you drink more water. You not only get the skin benefits of taking collagen but also skin hydration benefits from increasing water intake,” Sarah Greenfield, director of education at HUM, told us in an email.
The rise of collagen
Not to mention the star ingredient itself, collagen, has become more and more ubiquitous lately. Market research firm Euromonitor dubbed it the darling of Expo West Show in Anaheim earlier this year, where it appeared in everything from shakes to cookies to wraps.
Outside of the trade circuit, collagen is making its way to more consumer eyes in the form of little creamer packets by Vital Proteins stocked at the cashiers at Whole Foods stores, and appearing on the Instagram-feed of many, endorsed by celebrities and influencers alike.
Market research data from SPINS estimated the collagen supplements market to be worth upwards of $53 million in the US. Though collagen has been a staple for the beauty-from-within category, much of the growth has been thanks to collagen supplements positioned for performance nutrition, SPINS data revealed.
Bringing in buyers from the performance crowd can help bring attention to collagen for other functions, such as beauty, a category which has matured in East Asia and Europe decades ago but hasn’t had its prime time in the US market yet, experts said.
“The beauty of this increased consumer awareness and uptake of collagen supplements is that it further positions collagen as an ideal ingredient for more than just skin health,” said Heather Arment, marketing coordinator of Gelita USA, a subsidiary of the global, Germany-based gelatin specialist.
From pills to drinks
This is mainly why HUM Nutrition, whose nascent empire of beauty-positioned supplements got a $5 million injection last November, is starting its foray into effervescent tablets with collagen.
It has a line of capsules ranging from vegan biotin in ‘Killer Nails’ to lingonberry seeds in 'Arctic Repair,' but it’s starting with collagen tablets because, in Greenfield’s words, “it’s been a very exciting product in the health and wellness space.”
“We found amazing studies on the benefits collagen has on the skin and knew that this was the first type of product we wanted to create in a dissolvable tablet.”
And as more consumers choose beverages over pills, it also acts as a differentiator. Companies like Amazing Grass are designing effervescent tablets to deliver botanicals, but HUM Nutrition says collagen in this format is harder to find (a Google search revealed some products on Alibaba).
“We weren't able to find a dissolvable collagen on the market that tastes amazing and was easy to use while on the go. We understand how busy life can get, and we wanted to create a product that can fit in any beauty routine.”
It's also differentiating itself by using marine collagen instead of bovine or porcine.
"The quality of our collagen was very important to us. We sourced premium marine collagen that is sustainably-sourced and non-GMO. Since Collagen Love is from bovine collagen, we wanted to add another collagen product that could complement our line," Greenfield said.
She didn't go into the details about the collagen's supplier or studies around its dosage and efficacy, but said that "Collagen Pop and [the original capsule product] Collagen Love have similar amounts of collagen and both used hydrolyzed collagen for improved bioavailability."
Beauty retailers’ new role as a channel for supplement sales
Also noteworthy is HUM’s partnership strategy of launching with a beauty retailer instead of a vitamin retailer, signaling the increasing role beauty retailers like Sephora, Ulta, and Nordstrom are playing as distribution and sales channels for supplements.
“HUM Nutrition's line of supplements compliments prestigious skin care brands, and we wanted to be on the shelf next to these products,” Greenfield said.
“We wanted to make wellness accessible and knew the value of having our products at Sephora to make it easy for anyone to add our supplements to their beauty routine.”
The product will be available at all Sephora locations and online on Sephora.com and HUMNutrition.com, available in two sizes: $12 for a 10-day supply and $30 for a 30-day supply.