The three day event closed its doors in Las Vegas on Wednesday 15th July, having provided a focused platform for Italian companies which was initiated through the country’s industry association, Cosmetica Italia, as well as a local government industry group called Promos.
This year’s Cosmoprof North America event attracted 961 exhibitors from over 40 countries, including China, the UK, Sweden, Poland, South Korea, Spain and Turkey, but in particular there was an emphasis in Italian companies.
Promos is a division of the Milan Chamber of Commerce for internationalization and this year it was responsible for helping to place many of the Italian companies that where situated in the country pavilion in the main hall, centered around areas B and C.
International buyer program
To further facilitate business between the Italian companies present at the event and both North American and international companies, the two organizations held an International Buyer Program.
This meant pre-arranged b2b meetings between Italian companies and businesses from the U.S., as well as Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Panama, Brazil and India, designed to help facilitate and widen business relations.
“The Italian offering increasingly affirms an offering towards internationalization,” said Fabio Rosello, chairman of Cosmetica Italia.
“The ability to offer a mix of products, services, safety and innovation is the distinctive characteristic of the Italian cosmetics industry, which reacted fast to the economic downturn, both at home and abroad.”
Building on a strong position in North America
The Italian organizations are hoping to build upon strong existing trade with North America for the country’s cosmetic industry, which already counts the region as one of its primary market.
In 2013, the US was the number for export market, behind European neighbors France, United Kindom and Germany, which also accounted for 82.5% of all exports within the NAFTA area, which also includes Mexico and Canada.
Indeed, total cosmetic industry exports from Italy topped Euros 215 million in 2013, in a year when that figure also grew by an estimated 4.7%, according to Cosmetica Italia.
In particular, the organization reported that during 2013, the fastest growth was seen for alcohol-based perfumes, which grew by 70% to Euros 70 million, while hair care products grew by 13% to Euros 61 million.
New York Symposium
During the North America event the Cosmoprof Worldwide team also announced its first event on the East Cost – The Cosmoprof New York Symposium, 2014.
The event will be held at the Trump Soho Hotel, in Manhattan, New York City, between September 22nd – 23rd, and primarily aims to connect cosmetic suppliers in that region with companies from all over Italy, as well as internationally.
Because the event organizers are already well established in North America, they see the decision to launch the symposium as one that will broaden its reach, and in particular focus its activities in the all-important Northeastern board.