European Fragrances Microencapsulation Market (2020-2027)

The European fragrances microencapsulation market for home and personal care products is mainly driven by factors, such as strong growth in the cosmetic industry, increasing demand for home care products, growing demand for microencapsulated fragrances due to their wide applications across the home care and personal care industries, and rising R&D investment for improving process efficiency. However, the high production costs of some microencapsulation processes and stringent regulatory requirements are factors expected to restrain the future growth of this market marginally.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has had a significant impact not only on public health but also on various industries' supply chains. Home care and personal care are a few of such industries, where manufacturers are facing disruptions in raw material supply as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic. With nationwide lockdowns, international travel bans, and shuttered retail businesses, consumer behaviors have changed drastically across the beauty and personal care space, leading to diminished sales in many beauty segments. Also, imports and exports in many countries have either been restricted or delayed since the outbreak, creating hurdles for home care and personal care product suppliers. According to the Kantar World Panel`s most recent purchase panel data for the four weeks ending April 19, 2020, personal care products had dropped down in the U.K.’s priority list. For example, sales of toiletries decreased by 7.8% in volume as compared to the previous year. However, the impact on some home care products like surface disinfectants and hand sanitizers was completely inverse with a significant surge in demand during 2020.

The health officials haven`t determined the exact cause of COVID-19, which has infected more than 4,799,988 people and killed 200, 587 as of 18 October 2020 across EU/EEA and the U.K., according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). The COVID-19 outbreak has positively impacted the microencapsulation market majorly in terms of home care products. The demand for these products is expected to increase due to the boosted preventive measures and rising health concerns among the consumers. Higher hygiene standards have led to the stockpiling of home disinfection and cleaning products, which has fueled both value and volume sales of these categories.

People across the European countries have become more conscious regarding home and personal cleanliness during the pandemic, increasing the demand for home care and laundry products. The COVID-19 outbreak highlights the need to prevent the virus's spread by decreasing the risk of contamination. Disinfectants and other home cleaning products play a key role in doing so. The cleaning and disinfection of homes and clothes have gained priority as people look to protect themselves and their families. People have more than doubled the frequency of cleaning their homes and changing the way they wash their clothes. The demand for fragrance microencapsulation in the manufacture of home care products has increased with the increasing demand for home care products. Some of the related examples of the impact on sales, product prices, and production in this category are as follows:

According to many news articles and blogs, the sales of hand sanitizers in the U.K. have seen a year-on-year growth of 255% in February. Simultaneously, British shoppers purchased 7% more liquid hand soaps and spent 10% more on household cleaners than in February 2019.

Similarly, with the growth in Italy's COVID-19 cases, the country registered a 29% growth in the sales of hand soap in February 2020.

The rising demand for hand sanitizers has significantly increased the prices of hand sanitizers and cleaning agents at outlets across the globe, including supermarkets and online retail markets. For instance, In the U.K., a Defendol hand gel retailing at £3.49 ($4.46) in stores is being sold for £109.99 on Amazon. The price growth has also been observed in Italy. One of the Italian sellers on Amazon has increased the price of four three fluid-ounce bottles of sanitizer to EUR 60 ($66.77), while ten fluid-ounce bottles of Purell are selling for EUR 80 on eBay.

The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled consumers to clean their surroundings more frequently, while shelter-in-place orders have increased their exposure to home cleaning products. As a result, consumers are increasingly demanding products that use natural ingredients.

Millions of microcapsules are manufactured for homecare, laundry, skincare, and cosmetic products every year. Barely visible to the naked eye, suspended in liquids and lotions, these hidden microplastics preserve and release active ingredients, such as droplets of perfume in fabric softeners and detergents.

Thus, strong demand for home care products due to COVID-19 will support the growth of the fragrance microencapsulation market for home care products, as many millions of tonnes of microcapsules are manufactured and added to homecare and laundry products to preserve and release active ingredients, such as fragrances