The move into America, which signifies Bulldog’s largest export agreement to date, will see the UK-based firm launch in all 300 Whole Foods Market stores across the States.
“The opportunity for Bulldog in America is enormous, especially when you see that American men spend over $4 billion on male grooming products a year,” Bulldog founder Simon Duffy told CosmeticsDesign-Europe.com.
“It has always been a dream to launch the brand into the US. We first dipped our toe into exporting in January 2010 when we launched in Scandinavia, which has given us the confidence to move into a larger market.”
Export business to increase significantly
Export currently accounts for 10 per cent of Bulldog’s overall sales of £2.4m (€2.7m/ $4.0m), however with the imminent launch across America, the company believes the platform now exists for this to increase significantly by 2012.
“Initially we will be rolling out with five products from the award winning Original range. These have proven to be very popular in other territories we have exported to so I'm hoping this will be a similar experience here,” Duffy explained.
According to Euromonitor figures, American consumers spent $4.8bn on men’s grooming products last year, a figure which has doubled over the last decade, and Bulldog plans to get a chunk of the market.
“Ultimately we want to Bulldog to become the natural option for American men when they're choosing their skin care products. Bulldog is going to offer American men something different,” continued Duffy.
Bulldog finds the perfect partner
“Whole Foods Market feels like the ideal partner to break into the US with, they have a vast amount of credentials with natural products which makes them a perfect fit for the brand. Their stores are also incredible so it's going to be a great thrill to see Bulldog products on their shelves,” he added.
The natural and organic foods retailer, which reported sales of over $9.0bn in 2010, initially trialed the products in its stores for six months in the New England region of America.
Due to the success of the range in these stores, Bulldog has been fast tracked for national distribution from May 2011.
“In June we ran a 'soft launch' into the North Atlantic region of the USA with Whole Foods Market, which was very successful, Bulldog was the top performing male skin care brand in the category during this period. We were blown away by this success,” Duffy concluded.