New product development is becoming more selective. Across the first three quarters of 2026, the number of new product launches tracked by Euromonitor International’s Innovation Tracking system declined 25% compared with the same period in 2025. In this environment, monitoring which ingredients are gaining share helps identify where innovation retains momentum within a tighter global pipeline.
Botanicals lead ingredient share gains in 2026
Monitoring ingredient labels across global online SKUs reveals exactly where that momentum is concentrating. As consumers become more ingredient-literate, bolstered by AI search tools that make formulation research instantaneous, what goes into a product increasingly dictates how it is positioned and differentiated at launch. Looking at these ingredients across products, categories, and markets provides a unified view of the global landscape, uncovering shifts that remain hidden when analysing individual sectors in isolation.
The chart above shows the 10 ingredients with the largest increases in share of new product launches over Q1-Q3 2026 compared with the same period in 2025. Several distinct stories emerge from the data. First, citrus oils and vanilla extract recorded the biggest increases. Alongside pinene, their gains highlight the continued importance of botanical and plant-derived ingredients, where differentiation comes not only from novel compounds, but from finding fresh applications and positioning for established ones. Within beauty and personal care, these ingredients are also gaining traction across diverse routines, from moisturisers and body care to hair styling and deodorants, illustrating the breadth of applications supporting their relevance.
Beyond botanicals, another pattern emerges around targeted and functional actives. Gotu kola extract, panthenol and adenosine all gained share of new product launches, aligning with a broader industry shift towards targeted, efficacy-led formulations.
Growth in areas such as sensitive skin and skin health reflects how brands are moving beyond broad, foundational claims to address specific consumer concerns with credible, proven actives.
Source: Euromonitor International
While the majority of the top ingredients appear in beauty and personal care, the trend spans other sectors. Vanilla extract also features in packaged food, sucralose in soft drinks and consumer health, and creatine monohydrate in consumer health. As companies navigate complex supply chains and as ingredient demand cuts across categories and borders, a macro view reveals shifts in formulation that are harder to spot from within a single market silo.
Erborian expands its gotu kola footprint
The value of tracking these shifts becomes clearer when moving from the macro ingredient landscape to the specific products and companies driving them. Gotu kola extract, for example, is widely associated with soothing and barrier-repair formulations.
One recent example is Erborian Centella Barrier Cream, which pairs 2% Korean Centella asiatica with ceramides. Euromonitor’s Innovation Tracking system shows how the product expanded across several European markets and retailers following its launch. Owner L'Occitane Group reported Erborian as the fastest-growing brand in its portfolio in the financial year ending March 2025. Its recent launch activity reflects an industry-wide focus on sensitive and redness-prone skin, with L'Occitane Group highlighting sustained global demand for barrier-support solutions.
Tracking launches systematically across ingredients, products and markets puts individual developments into clear context. Rather than treating each release in isolation, teams can identify when an ingredient like gotu kola extract begins to scale, how it is formulated across price tiers and where those products achieve commercial distribution. As overall launch activity slows, these formulation shifts offer reliable signals of where commercial innovation is concentrating and where new opportunities may be emerging.
Euromonitor’s Innovation solution helps to quickly discover where new products first appear online, and which are expanding rapidly across retailers, countries and categories. Contact us here to see which new products have been gaining ground in your category. And see our new report Innovation in Beauty and Personal Care which explores how more selective launch activity, targeted efficacy and changing consumer needs are reshaping innovation across the industry.