Starts & Stops & Start Again

This recovery is anything but linear. While the pandemic has been devastating to millions of consumers in the US and around the world, economists note that many households saved cash while they hunkered down to wait out COVID-19. In fact, household interest payments on debt as a share of after-tax income is the lowest it’s been in four decades. At the same time, banks amassed capital and weathered the sharp downturn better than anyone could have expected.

As consumers emerge from their homes and venture out into the world again, a supply shortage poses a, hopefully short-term, threat to the recovery. But for now, it’s stoking inflation at levels that consumers haven’t experienced in years. Navigating this strange new recovery requires new ideas.

There are plenty of new ideas in this issue of Happi. Beginning here, Melissa Meisel details some of the latest trends in facial cosmetics. Three-quarters of consumers changed their beauty routines during the pandemic. Successful beauty companies will change along with them.

Consumer attitudes toward health and wellness are changing too, and that may bode well for the preservative market. After so much sickness, safety is paramount. The right preservatives, or combinations thereof, ensure that household and personal care products remain safe and effective. Click here to find out what’s new in this most essential of ingredient categories.

This issue of Happi also includes The Top 50, our annual look at the largest US companies in the global household and personal products industry. When you grow weary from reading how multibillion- and multimillion-dollar companies are managing through these difficult times, click here. Our monthly Indie Inc columns are profiles in resilience. Each month, Managing Editor Christine Esposito interviews indie brand owners and finds out more about their victories, their defeats and what keeps them going.

We hope you enjoy this edition of Happi. As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions.

Tom Branna
Editorial Director
tbranna@rodmanmedia.com