Cosmoprof 2026 closed its doors a few weeks ago. Four days, 3,104 exhibitors from 68 countries, more than 250,000 visitors. Now is the moment to take stock.
A sold-out fair that brought the entire global beauty supply chain to Bologna: buyers, manufacturers, formulators, distributors, startup founders and multinational executives. And amid all of this, VEGANOK-certified companies with their stands, their products, and a purple countertop display that said one thing only: we are here, and we know why.
The market behind this edition
To understand what Cosmoprof 2026 said about the vegan beauty market, we first need to understand the industry we operate in.
Cosmetica Italia presented its data at the opening of the fair, during the “This is Bellezza” event: in 2025, total revenue for the Italian cosmetics industry reached €18 billion (+2.9%), with exports at €8.6 billion, almost 50% of total revenue, and domestic consumption at €12.8 billion (+3.2%). A further 4% acceleration is forecast for 2026. Italy confirms its position as the world’s fifth-largest cosmetics exporter, with a 5.6% share of the global market. The main destination markets: the United States (€1.2 billion), France (€0.9 billion), Germany (€0.8 billion).
An industry that is growing, exporting, and competing on a global scale. And within this industry, cosmetics with a natural and sustainable positioning were already worth €3.3 billion in 2024, 24.8% of the entire national cosmetics market, with 6.5% growth (source: Cosmetica Italia). With the sector’s overall growth at +2.9% in 2025, that figure is set to rise further. Certified vegan is the most rigorous core of this segment, the one that a green label and a leaf on the packaging cannot replicate.
Three things we clearly observed as an Observatory
1. Certified vegan no longer lives in a corner of the fair. It is everywhere.
When we mapped the VEGANOK-certified companies for this edition, the first thing that stood out was the distribution. Certified companies were not only in the Green & Organic hall. They were in Professional Hair, where hairdressers from around the world come to choose the lines for their salons. In Beauty & Spa, in Contract Manufacturing, in Cosmetics & Skincare. In almost every sector of the fair.
One might think this is an organisational detail. In reality, it is a very precise market signal: vegan certification has stopped being the defining feature of a dedicated space. Those who work in the professional segment today have the same expectations as those who work in retail. Those who formulate on behalf of others ask themselves the same questions as those who sell directly to the end consumer. Certification runs through everything.
2. Demand has changed. And with it, the value of certification.
Speaking with the founders and managers of the certified companies, one thing came through clearly: the narrative has shifted. A few years ago you would often hear, “we chose vegan because the founder believed in it.” Today you hear, “buyers are asking us for it, retailers verify it, consumers look for it.”
Silvia Conconi from Naturalia Tantum put it with a frankness worth more than a thousand presentation slides: “Today it almost seems like a passepartout because many have it, but we truly rode this wave many years ago.” The difference between those who built and those who followed is visible. And Cosmoprof is one of the few places in the world where that difference is physically visible: in the stand, in the products, in the way people talk about what they do.
The VEGANOK international certification today answers questions the market is already asking: from international buyers coming to Bologna from 68 countries, from distributors who need to justify their assortment choices, from end consumers who in 2026 are not satisfied with “natural” written in green on the label.
3. Transparency has become the language of the fair. Certified vegan has been speaking it for years.
The common thread of Cosmoprof 2026, which also emerged from the CosmoTalks, from press releases, from conversations in the aisles, was one word: transparency. On ingredients, on production processes, on environmental impact. The global consumer wants to know where raw materials come from, who processed them, what remains in the packaging after use. An industry that for years has promised a lot now has to prove it.
EU Directive 2024/825 against greenwashing, with a transposition deadline set for 27 March 2026, exactly during the fair, made all of this regulatory. Generic environmental claims without recognised certification are no longer just unconvincing: they are non-compliant.
VEGANOK-certified companies are already positioned exactly where the market is heading, with a documentation system that verifies ingredients and responds to the new requirements with concrete evidence.
The moment that says it all
There is one thing that happened during those four days which, more than any data point, tells the story of where the vegan beauty market stood in 2026.
Every time we delivered the “VEGANOK Certified Exhibitor” display board to the certified companies, the one to be shown at the stand and visible to anyone walking by, the reaction was the same. Genuine pride. Whether it was a company that had been with us for 15 years or a more recently certified one, the feeling was identical.
This is worth pausing on for a moment.
Displaying that board at a Cosmoprof stand means making a public declaration in front of buyers from 68 countries, international distributors, competitors, and professional operators from every beauty segment. In a fair where everything competes for attention, packaging, visuals, launches, novelties, making your certification visible is a precise act. An act of identity.
And identity, in the 2026 market, weighs more than any claim. Because claims are written, printed, changed. The VEGANOK international certification is earned, maintained, renewed.
Those who displayed that board during those four days told the international market one thing only: we are here, we know why, and we can prove it.
Companies of completely different sizes, histories and specialisations, from Professional Hair to Beauty & Spa, from Contract Manufacturing to Cosmetics & Skincare, sharing the same mark of recognition. Certified vegan beauty is no longer asking to be legitimised. It has already earned that legitimacy. And now it shows it, stand by stand, hall by hall.
