Why Snail Slime Is A $500 Million Industry | Big Business | Business Insider

this machine is extracting the slime from snails in the name of beauty it will end up in skincare products around the world to repair and moisturize the skin historically the way to get snail mucin was by killing them but new machines like this one stimulate the snails instead [Music] companies around the world have adopted the technology here in italy snail farming has reportedly increased by more than 300 percent over the past two decades just in time for an almost 4 billion snail beauty market to take off [Music] advocates often claim their products can improve wrinkles and texture but can snail slime really do all that and how has it become such a big business simone sampo always knew he wanted to be a snail expert bambino traditionally he's led the international institute of halisa culture in the northern italian town of carrasco since 2016. through the institute simone helped develop methods that create ideal conditions to grow and harvest snails and they haven't exactly been moving at a snail's pace simone says they've seen a huge increase in demand people are trying to opt for what is known as clean beauty kind of more organic plant derived animal derived products it all starts in rooms like this one of the [Music] the eggs hatch after about two weeks [Music] and then go to an incubation room the institute sells the baby snails to farmers who raise them outdoors using methods developed by the institute [Music] simona basile is one of them she started out in 2019 with about thirty three thousand snails yokomita [Music] m the snails mostly eat vegetables like cabbage and spinach they are also fed a supplement containing corn soy and other flowers to strengthen their shells [Music] once the snails reach adulthood after about one year farmers can sell them back to the institute or to private buyers simona will take these 11-pound boxes to the institute for the gastropure as for the slime it's what helps snails move and protect themselves against small predators but it also contains antioxidant properties that are said to repair skin damage so how do heliculturists get snail slime for beauty products it's a centuries-old practice but back in the day the snails had to be killed for the slime to be extracted the tale goes that greek physician hippocrates applied crushed snails to treat skin inflammations later on snails were dunked in pots of salt water and vinegar that forced them to release the slime that is until it was discovered snails would also release slime if they were stimulated so simone spent years developing this machine to get them to release the mucus without killing them he describes it as a little spa for snails the steel structure has two domes that can fit about 44 pounds of snails the snails are first cleaned with water and ozone then they're sprayed with an acidic solution that makes them release the slime as a defense mechanism the institute says this process doesn't cause harm to the animals the machine extracts about 118 ounces of slime during the one-hour process [Music] it will then be distributed through the institute's lumidea brand to seven countries it sells for about sixty dollars but that's not the end of it the snails go through this process about three or four times before they are euthanized with a highly concentrated solution of ozonated water the intestines are used for gourmet dishes the shells for cosmetic products [Music] and the eggs to make snail caviar the products are distributed through the lumachuria italiana company which simone also leads part of it may have to do with the rising global influence of k beauty south korea is one of the top 10 beauty markets in the world it's established itself as a snail cream superpower and north america is projected to be the fastest growing region for snail beauty products in the u.s brands that use snail mucin have expanded their presence through retailers like target and cvs there's also growing demand worldwide for products that protect against aging and pollution and consumers seem to be gravitating toward natural skin care ingredients studies have shown it can treat radiation-induced irritations wounds and burns i've seen the wound healing benefits and the skin regenerative benefits of using snail mucin after laser procedure but the clinical research is limited and the slime's long-term effectiveness is yet to be seen the hope will be that it will move from just this anecdotal kind of idea to something that's more clinically investigated simone has faith in its future his company says its studies have shown that the slime has compounds like alan toyne and elastin that repair and moisturize the skin uh no [Music] you

Channel: Business Insider

Views: 1,746,458

Keywords: Business Insider, Business News, big business, snail, snail slime, multi billion, multi billion dollar, beauty, beauty industry, skincare, wrinkles, texture, beauty products, skincare products, cosmetics

Id: 5hbenumAaJM

Length: 8min 48sec (528 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 14 2022