Indena targets cosmetic ingredients growth in China

19-Oct-2011 - Last updated on 20-Oct-2011 at 15:02 GMT

Italian active ingredients player Indena says that its participation in the forthcoming PCHi event in China next February will play an important part in the company’s strategy to grow its cosmetics arm.

The company is mainly focused on pharmaceutical and nutraceutical active ingredients, but in recent years the cosmetic division has grown in importance. In view of this the cosmetics division, which was formed last year, accounts for approximately 10 percent of total sales.

“It is an area where we see a huge potential for growth. That’s why we established the dedicated cosmetics division in order to develop more novel ingredients for customers in the industry,” said Martino Meneghin, development manager, Personal Care.

Targeting the growth of cosmetic ingredients in emerging markets

With the establishment of its cosmetics division, the company is aiming to further increase its footprint in this area, with one of the key strategies being to target growing international markets, in particular emerging economies.

In line with this, the China market is an obvious nut to try and crack. According to figures from PCHi, the market for personal care and home care grew at an annual compound growth rate of over 12 percent between 2011 – 2014.

More importantly for Indena, this growth is increasingly being driven by demands from China consumers for sophisticated cosmetic products, which invariably taps into two of the biggest trends: naturally-derived and effective products.

Development of more innovative ingredients

“We decided to invest in developing more innovative ingredients for the cosmetics industry last year (2010), because we saw the potential for tremendous growth in this sector, especially in China,” Meneghin said.

“Chinese consumers are becoming more conscious of the impact of their purchases on the environment, and see the advantages that our natural products have to offer. Without a doubt, China is fast becoming one of the more important countries for us to grow our business.”

The company now has an established sales office in China, backed up by a local sales staff, but says it is also aiming to get its name better known in the industry by exhibiting at key industry events.

As an extension of this, the company has also increased its physical presence at industry events in China, targeting the PCHi event in China as it feels it will provide a targeted customer base.

Indena will exhibit under the Cosmetics Valley pavilion at the event, which will be held at the Shanghai World Expo, February 27 – 29, 2012.