Domestic cosmetics corporations are expanding beyond "topical beauty" into "ingestible beauty." This is seen as an effort to secure new growth engines by applying brand recognition built through cosmetics, product development and marketing capabilities, and overseas distribution networks to the "inner beauty" business.
Inner beauty refers to a product category that aims for cosmetic benefits such as improved skin and body shape through the intake of foods or health functional foods. The related market is also projected to grow rapidly.
According to industry sources on the 17th, Goodai Global is hiring experienced professionals across various fields, including product planning, e-commerce MD, and marketing, to launch an inner beauty brand. Through a job posting, Goodai Global said, "This position is for a new affiliate of Goodai Global," adding, "We are looking for people to join the growth journey from a zero base of a new inner beauty brand."
Goodai Global has grown into a multi-brand corporation by successively acquiring Beauty of Joseon, TIRTIR, SKIN1004, ROUND LAB, and SKINFOOD. Ahead of an IPO next year, the company appears to be pursuing portfolio expansion by considering inner beauty as a new category, following acquisitions of cosmetics brands and the expansion of overseas distribution networks.
APR has also begun developing inner beauty products for the global market. To that end, it recently signed a strategic business agreement with Natural Way, a health functional food-specialized OEM/ODM corporation.
APR has already been engaged in the health functional food business through its brand GLAM.D. GLAM.D's flagship products have centered on weight management and health management categories such as enzymes and protein shakes. With this agreement, APR is expected to diversify its lineup and expand product development focused on inner beauty, including skin and beauty.
Cosmetics corporations are jumping into inner beauty because it has strong touchpoints with their existing businesses. Ingredients commonly used in inner beauty products—such as collagen, hyaluronic acid, retinol, and glutathione—are familiar to cosmetics consumers. In product development and marketing, they can also leverage existing beauty frameworks such as skin, antioxidants, slow aging, and weight management.
The high frequency of repeat purchases is also attractive from a corporation's perspective. An industry official said, "While cosmetics tend to have relatively long usage cycles by product, health functional foods and inner beauty products are consumed steadily over a set period," adding, "If you secure brand loyalty, it can lead to subscriptions or set sales, which can be expected to boost revenue."
Health functional foods have already become everyday consumer goods in Korea. According to the Korea Health Supplements Association, the purchase experience rate of health functional foods in the past year was 83.6%, a record high for the past five years.
Global growth potential is also high. According to market research firm Precedence Research, the global nutricosmetics market—a concept similar to inner beauty—is expected to grow from $8.21 billion (about 12.4 trillion won) in 2025 to $18.02 billion (about 27.2 trillion won) in 2035. Nutricosmetics refers to products that aim for appearance-improving effects on skin, hair, and nails through ingestion. Inner beauty is used as a broader concept that includes wellness areas such as weight management, gut health, and sleep.
Related demand is also being confirmed in distribution channels. Olive Young's wellness curation platform "Olive Better," launched in January this year, secured 1.8 million Olive Young members who purchased wellness products for the first time within 100 days of launch. At the first offline store in Gwanghwamun, the share of sales from foreign customers jumped from about 7% right after opening to nearly 50% by the end of April. Olive Young plans to increase the number of Olive Better stores to 10 within the year.
Park Jong-dae, an analyst at Hana Securities, said, "Most mainstream U.S. health functional food products are in mass-produced pill formats, whereas Korean products are drawing consumer interest with diverse formats such as gummies, jelly sticks, and capsules, along with trendy concepts," adding, "The success of K-culture and K-beauty is translating into trust in K–inner beauty."