By Virginia Muzik
Austrade had a presence at this year’s Cosmoprof, with a dedicated Australian Pavilion showcasing the following brands: eyebrow styling products and cosmetics brand Sharon-Lee, hair care brands eco kid/evo, essential oils-based brand, Botany Aromatherapy, PharmaCare Laboratories (which distributes SkinDoctors and other pharmacy brands), Advanced Natural skincare brand, Lilly Pilly body care products, Grahams Natural Alternatives; manufacturer of natural skincare, hair care and sun care products.
Also exhibiting separately from Australia were The Natural Source, Body Treats and Napoleon Perdis Cosmetics – billed as a US company.
Overall, the Australian brands exhibiting found the show to be a success for them.
Sharon-Lee Clarke, Sharon-Lee:
“The show was wildly successful for us however I’m told this isn’t always the case. We are planning to exhibit in Hong Kong in November and have already had orders pouring in. One fleeting meeting I had with Wynn Casino Group 40 minutes before boarding an aircraft fetched a huge order also. The US market is massive. We’re truly thrilled with the results.” www.sharon-lee.com.au
Simon Ogilvie, Director, LillyPilly Australia:
“It’s not until the coming weeks and months unfold that a show’s true success can be judged, but it appears very positive. We made some great contacts from the US industry, as well as Canadian, Chilean, and even Turkish marketplaces. Compared to last year, which was our launch show, LillyPilly was received fantastically well, especially our new packaging, and range of gift packs, which open up a whole new ‘gifting’ distribution channel. Cosmoprof North America is a good forum to get in touch with individual salon and spa owners, as well as mass retailers and specialty retailers. No other show I’ve been to pulls together such a wide array of industry professionals and retail opportunities.” www.lillypilly.net.au
Dr Robert Ippaso, CEO and Founder, The Natural Source:
“The Natural Source had a very successful showing at Cosmoprof North America, with a number of well qualified international and US parties showing considerable interest.
What the attendees noticed most was how The Natural Source completely fits the bill of being able to offer much more than just the ‘natural’ segment under the one holistic brand. With over 600 specialty beauty products in six specialty sub-brands, we showcased our wonderful Australian natural, naturopathic and organic products to many show-goers. As with all new markets, we’ll need a few months before agreements are finalised and the doors opened to specific new markets, however we look forward to a very busy future in the international beauty arena over the next year.” www.thenaturalsource.com
Tania Franetic, Executive Assistant, Advanced Natural Australia:
“The show was a great success for us. We were extremely fortunate to have the support and assistance of Austrade in preparing for the show. Pre-arranged meetings with screened buyers from countries such as Mexico, Chile and USA were a great opportunity and stepping stone for us to introduce Advanced Natural Skin Care. The show was not as busy as other Cosmoprof-organised beauty events but the calibre of ‘genuine’ buyers was excellent. Exhibiting at Cosmoprof North America has provided us with a substantial number of enquiries and interest from buyers. We hope to soon launch ourselves in new markets, including the USA.” www.advancednatural.com
Danny Williams, Regional Director, USA & Canada, Pharmacare Laboratories:
“In general, we were a little disappointed in the traffic flow, ie, it was a bit light on in numbers. We were very happy with the opportunity to network and have made many useful connections with potential distributors, brokers and customers. The event was extremely well run, providing us with the opportunity to professionally present our portfolio of brands to the market place. The event was very enjoyable and overall worthwhile.” www.pharmacare.com.au
Carlie Gosson, Bodytreats:
“We met buyers from not only the USA but countries all around the world. Bodytreats had more than a positive response, which was great for us. Through the show we now have a US distributor and US website. We also have interest from Dubai and Korea for our professional range, and Chile, Peru and Mexico for our retail range. Now we look to many months of back and forth emails to see if any of that interest will pan out with a solid outcome in some of these other countries. It is exciting to exhibit, even more exciting to land an order and start to build an international brand. Bodytreats USA is now on its way and our team will be back at Cosmoprof next year.”
www.bodytreats.com.au and www.bodytreatsUSA.com
Clare Matthews, Director and Co-Founder, Vitaman:
“It was a hugely successful show – we have already signed contracts. We have been chosen as the exclusive men’s skincare brand for retail and professional treatments for the Wynn Hotel’s new hotel, Encore, opening in Las Vegas this December. Mrs. Wynn personally selected VitaMan. We’re also finalising distribution in several states for the hair and beauty market as well as some very exclusive high-end department stores.
Discover Beauty was the best program I’ve done since exporting (approximately nine years). The lead-up to the show and during the show with PR, as well as the one-on-one meetings with leading buyers from department stores, specialised retail stores and hotels, was priceless.
Two of our products were also featured on TV’s The Today Show during the event. Over the three days, I would have to say the quality of leads was first class.” www.vitaman.com.au
Brad Gauvin, Export Manager, Haircare Australia:
The show was a great introduction for us to the US and Canadian markets. The US market is so large, has so many different retail channels and is so price-competitive (especially in light of the recent exchange rate) that it is very daunting to find the correct form of distribution. Austrade were well organised. They arranged for us to gift our products to buyers from various retail chains in the USA and from this we generated interest in our hair care brands evo and eco.kid. Also, during the lead-up to the show Austrade promoted our brands to buyers from various South American countries and helped arrange meetings with them over the course of the weekend. Cosmoprof North America is closed to hairdressers and the public. It is for wholesale buyers and retail buyers only. This is great as it is much more targeted than other shows. However it is focused on professional products mainly and thus for the most part attracts buyers for the professional industry. The show attracts many buyers from Canada and South America and so it is a good starting point to develop business in that part of the world. We are now in the process of following up leads from the show and hopefully will gain distribution from them.” www.ecokid.com.au and www.evoresearch.com.au
Jorn Zempel, General Manager, Sales/Business Development, Private Formula International:
“It was the first time we have ever participated at an expo of this size. The results massively exceeded our expectations. We received a huge interest and only positive comments and feedback on our brands and ranges. We showcased the Dr LeWinn’s range, RenuNail (which in Australia is called Revitanail) and our latest brand, Hissyfit; a water-resistant, tinted SPF 55+ couture sunscreen range, including foundations, body moisturisers and lip balms. There are no firm distribution agreements yet but many very positive leads that we are currently following up; no doubt a very strong market entry will follow once strategies have been finalised. Through the Discover Beauty program we enjoyed guaranteed appointments with elite retail buyers and we spoke with many other interested buyers at the booth, for example, Macy’s, Home Shopping Network, Bliss, Sephora). Over and above this, we had huge interest from buyers, distributors and the media from all over the world, including Mexico, Canada, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan and Peru.” www.drlewinns.com