Mass retailers, investors and CPG companies get serious about natural personal care, while core brands extend their lines, eliminate parabens and await organic standards.

At a Wal-Mart in Medford, Ore., a shopper wanders the large personal care section looking for natural items. She can find none of the brands well-known to seasoned natural shoppers, but a handful of SKUs scattered throughout the shelves seem to advertise natural formulas: Naterra, Bodycology, The Healing Garden. Then the word “organic” in capital letters attracts her to a bottle of Olive Oil Creamy Aloe shampoo by Namasté Laboratories. Does she call it a bargain at $5 for 12 oz. and put it in her basket, or does she read the label to learn that it contains no certified organic ingredients, and that olive oil and aloe are preceded by a long list of chemicals on the ingredients panel?

Thirty miles away at the Ashland Food Coop, the same shopper finds a banquet of natural brands. Prices are higher, yet many of the items seem more genuinely natural. An 11-oz. bottle of Avalon Organics peppermint shampoo is $8, and it does contain certified organic peppermint. In both products, however, cocamidopropyl is the second ingredient after water. Is the cocamidopropyl betaine in the Avalon Organics shampoo any more natural than the cocamidopropyl dimethylamine in the Namasté shampoo from Wal-Mart?

NPC Overview: $5.6-billion NPC market comes of age with heightened demand, massmarket sets and M&A activity. Demographic age wave portends continued double-digit growth , but serious issues loom in organic labeling standards		1 - 9
Acquisitions change face of category but executives at Tom's of Maine, Burt's Bees Hain Celestial say brands will retain natural position and capture mass-market growth		10 - 12
EO Products swims with big fish, builds on essential oil platform with hand sanitizer		13
MLMs Nu Skin and USANA use high-technology to create strong value propositions in North America, while Asian sales show volatility		14 - 15
Skin care category remains robust as manufacturers seek to eliminate parabens and gain leverage with peptides		16 - 17
Nature’s Gate turns out new style and new products following a change in ownership and management		17
Emerita builds product portfolio for women over 40		18
Elusive Inner Beauty positioning still beckons despite Pharmavite's challenges with Olay Vitamins. Suppliers push the envelope with oral-topical combination ingredients, and MLMs take the lead in product marketing		19 - 20
Global platform gives Weleda strength to build on a growing market in the USA		21
Raw Materials segment is diverse and growing as competitors seek to differentiate		21 - 23

Acatris AEA Investors Ashland Food Co-op Aubrey Avalon Avalon Natural Products Avon Products Inc BASF Berkshire Partners Bio-Botanica Body Shop Botanic Oil Innovations Burt’s Bees Colgate-Palmolive Cosmetics Without Synthetics Creme de la Mer CVS Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps Dr. Hauschka Emerita EO Products Estee Lauder Hain-Celestial Harvest Partners Health and Beauty America Helix Biomedics Indena USA International Aloe Science Council J.R. Watkins Apothecary Jason Natural Products JH Partners Jurlique Kanebo Keratec Kiss My Face

Kline & Co Le Sel Research Levlad L’Oreal Mary Kay Cosmetics MD Beauty MotherNature.com MyChelle Dermaceuticals Namasté Laboratories Natural Marketing Institute Natural Products Association Nature’s Gate NSF Nu Skin Organic Trade Association OrganoBalance Pangea Organics Para Laboratories Pharmavite Prima Fleur Procter & Gamble Royal Labs Natural Cosmetics SPINS Target The Sugar Association Tom’s of Maine Transitions for Health USANA Health Sciences Wal-Mart Walgreens Weleda Wild Oats Wildcrafted Herbal Products Zia Natural Skincare