Questions and Answers
Q: Do you believe that sustainability will become increasingly important in the fragrance packaging market? What actions going towards this direction have you seen to date? It will inevitably become more important, but the fragrance category is relatively slow to change – despite some increases in launches of environmentally-friendly packaging in the last couple of years,the numbers are still very low. We have noted more fragrances in board cartons that use post consumer recycled fibres and are printed with water-soluble inks. Also of note are refillable and reuseable packs, but these are all quite niche and there are relatively few on the market. Q: Are you seeing a reduction in the use of palm oil? Not in terms of new product introductions. A quick free textsearch in GNPD for “palm oil” shows a general increase in time. We also believe there likely are a number of products that use palm oil but do not specifically call it out in the ingredient statement (using the more generic “vegetable oil” instead). We do see some products that mention that they use palm oil from a sustainable source, however. Q: What does LOHAS stand for? LOHAS stands for Lifestylesof Health and Sustainability. In the words of the LOHAS journal, it is a market segment focused on health and fitness, the environment, personal development, sustainable living, and social justice. (See www.lohas.com) Q: When will you have 2009 data to share to understand the real recession impact? Do you expect this to be a short term drop or longer term? Mintel will continue to research thisarea and publish new data during the course of the next few months – for information on specific categories or areas of interest please contact your Account Director. Q: Does the chart on slide 5 refer to UK or is this a global reference? Slide 5, looking at new product claims as a percentage of all ethical and environmental claims, covers introductions in the c. 50 countries covered by Mintel GNPD.Q: How does the green consumer landscape evolution in the US compare with the rise of the LOHAS consumer segment from 17% to 19% according to the Natural Market Institute? The LOHAS consumer can be thought of as the “early adopters” when it comes to green living issues. Therefore, they do not completely correspond to the segmentation Mintel has discussed.

Q: In the pie charts on slide 7 is the“Drink” category different to the drink we mean in “Food”? In these pie charts “Food” includes all the GNPD categories covered by the Food Super Category, and Drink all of the GNPD categories covered by that Super Category – in other words, Food includes only (human) food, and drink includes all types of drink, alcoholic and non-alcoholic, with the exception of those dairy-based drinks that areincluded in the Dairy category, which is itself part of the Food Super Category. Q: What does PLA mean? PLA stands for polylactic acid, a biodegradeable plastic derived from renewable (non-petroleum) sources – usually corn starch or sugar cane. Q: According to legislation what claims can be made on products containing partial organic/sustainable/ natural/etc ingredients? Legislation in individualcountries may vary, which may impact some of the specific language that can be used on pack. However, what we tend to see on products are statements such as “contains organic apples,” or the like, rather than “contains 10% organic ingredients.” Q: Are there any clear definitions of “naturalness”? There is no clear international definition. “Natural” is usually taken to mean “without artificialingredients”, which can mean “without additives” although there are significant grey areas. The term sometimes extends to products free from refined sugars, hydrogenated oils, etc., and can also refer to products that are minimally processed. We would advise clients to seek specialist advice within their respective markets as to what can be legally marketed as “natural”. Q: How many products have…