Canadian Market Trends in Natural Beauty

While I would love to be able to say that the Canadian market is catching on to the "natural beauty" trend, I have to report that it's not happening quite as fast as anyone in the market hopes. It's still a niche market. I've been researching the different distribution channels of natural beauty products to look for a solution for my own product line, Fable Natural.

According to research by Organic Monitor, the North American market for organic beauty products is two-tired. The first being natural beauty brands that pop up under a corporate parent company with the means to produce and promote such a product line in a high-end setting, such as a department store. An example cited from this market is Care by Stella McCartney, produced by YSL Beaute. The second-tier which is the vast majority of independent natural beauty brands that are distributed through the traditional channels, such as health food stores, health spas, and some drug stores.

From empirical evidence, I would have to say that the first-tier has been a failure thus far. Conventional beauty corporations jumping onto the band wagon are not prepared for this particular market segment. Though they have all the possible means and capacity to execute a line, one could say, that the market is not ready for this conversion, just yet. From my own research, Holt Renfrew in Toronto has dipped in to the organic beauty market only to realize that it doesn't work for them, or at least not with the way that it is marketed and displayed. People who go to Holts, come for the brand names. If they want organic, they'll go to Whole Foods.

Though many health food stores carry some beauty and personal care products. It doesn't look like it's going well. I talked to one health supplement shop and he reported that it's just not a significant part of his business. He cites Whole Foods as his dominant competitor.  So even the traditional channels of distribution is hard to break into nowadays.

So I wonder, what would i take for people to demand natural and organic?