Evereden eyes Middle East expansion amid increasing demand for premium family skin care

Previously only available on Sephora’s online platform, Evereden officially launched in stores across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines this April.

Since its debut in 2019, the brand has expanded to markets in the US, Canada, China, Australia, New Zealand, France, and the UK.

“South East Asia is a huge region where spending power for premium products is growing year by year. A lot of people call it the next China. As I grew up in SEA, this expansion is something we are very proud of.​

“Our objective is to be the number one global family skin care brand. I would love for one out of five families in Singapore to know about or have tried Evereden. It is also our long-term goal to expand further internationally,” ​Kimberley Ho, founder of Evereden, told CosmeticsDesign-Asia​.

The brand’s target markets include the Middle East and Latin America.

“We seek to find the right distributors and retail partners to partner with. If you look at our TikTok or Instagram, there are people asking every day if we are in Dubai or Saudi Arabia, and the countries that we ship to. We have to tell them not at the moment, but hopefully soon.”​

Everden’s strategy is focused on delivering high-quality, premium products at affordable price points.

“When we first launched, we were the first of our kind to have products priced between $20 and $50. If you look at other brands in Sephora, premium products are priced in the hundreds. We may not be the cheapest offering, but we are not a drugstore brand and we don’t plan to play the price game.”​

According to Ho, there have been an increase of mum and baby care brands launching at similar price points as Evereden.

“Premiumisation is a trend across all consumer categories, from cosmetics and skin care to clothes, shoes and bags. Specifically for mum and baby care, I think the premiumisation trend will continue to prevail for the next 10 to 15 years.”​

“Unparalleled” speed to market​

Evereden places great emphasis on its product development, which is backed by its board of “Moms in Medicine” comprising chief scientific officer Dr Joyce Teng, head of Stanford Medical School’s paediatric dermatology department, and scientific officers Dr Sarina Elmariah and Dr Rebecca Hartman from Harvard Medical School.

“Every single product from Evereden has been vetted, philosophised and created by these three experts, who together have more than 50 years of experience and who are also mothers. I don’t think you can get that from any other brand.​

“We see new brands popping up and dying all the time, resulting in not only environmental waste, but also a waste of marketing dollars and consumers’ time. The last thing we want to do is to add more noise to the market. Our vision is to add value through science-backed, high-quality ingredients and products,” ​Ho said.

Although doctor-backed adult skin care brands have grown in popularity over the past few years, the trend did not extend to the mum and baby care category until recently.

“​The trend for ​mum and baby care had been more about natural ingredients. But just because something is natural doesn’t mean it’s safe. For example, poison ivy is a natural ingredient and it is certainly not safe. Something our board said no to very early on was lavender. Lavender oil is a common skin sensitiser, and if you are prone to eczema, it’s a definite no-no.​

“While there are natural ingredients that are harmful, there are also synthetic ingredients that are extremely good for the skin. We like to use plant-based, botanical materials where we can, but we are not blinded by marketing buzzwords like natural or organic. The days where you can simply call yourself an ‘organic mum and baby brand’ is over.”​

In the long term, Ho expects to see more science-backed mum and baby care brands, and more knowledge-seeking consumers.

Evereden’s ability to launch about 10 products a year, with a product development cycle of six to nine months, is attributed to its in-house laboratory.

“A lot of brands survive on good marketing and clever branding, and that’s great. But for us, product is number one. We made a promise to consumers to create products that they cannot buy from other brands.​ Instead of spending money on marketing, we decided back then to build a lab of our own.​

“The product development life cycle of major firms are typically two to three years, and many cosmetics companies work with third-party labs to formulate their products. During this period, you miss entire product trends and what consumers want. The benefit of being a young company and having our own lab is that our speed to market is unparalleled.”​

Besides NPD, the team is constantly working to upgrade its existing products, including those that have performed well.

“We don’t rest on our laurels.​ Our chemists scour Amazon, our D2C channel, and social media for reviews. For instance, if they see any feedback on a product’s scent or texture, they will work on those aspects.​

“Apart from launching new products, we tweak and improve old products every year. I think this is the defining differentiator of Evereden from a product perspective.”​

Gen Alpha not to be belittled

Going forward, Evereden intends to further capitalise on the Gen Alpha​ market, which is the firm’s fastest-growing category that has been responsible for much of its growth globally.

“Gen Alpha is anyone under the age of 14 years old right now. The way a 13-year-old girl behaves and the way a six-year-old boy behaves is very different.​ This group of consumers is just beginning to develop their personalities, so we don’t really know if they are loyal or fickle, or if they have super strong preferences.​

“We have a very successful skin care and hair care line that are targeted at those aged between three and 13 years. We have been able to gain brand loyalty not by trying to guess who they are or even talk to their parents, but by talking directly to the Gen Alpha kids.”​

During the product development stage, the brand conducted focus groups where over 50 children and teens participated in.

“What we found interesting was that the kids and their parents can have opposite reactions to a product concept and packaging. A mistake that many brands make is to assume Gen Alpha’s preferences from a parent or an adult’s perspective. When we do these focus groups, we always make sure to listen to the kids.​

“Sometimes, even a four-year-old can give insightful feedback. For instance, comments like ‘I like the pump to be a trigger pump because if the pump is too hard, I can’t press it with my fingers’ are things that we consider and incorporate into our packaging development.”​

In addition, Ho referred to Gen Alpha as a “powerful” consumer group that is projected to be the largest spending generation of our time.

“Most of our products for kids sold out within months of launch. Data shows that they are estimated to ​outspend Gen Zs and millennials by multiple times by the time they are in their 20s.​ I think we are just scratching the surface and there is so much more to do. It’s definitely something we are very excited about.”​