Natural materials nurture fledging domestic cosmetic industry

The number of Vietnamese cosmetics brands in the home market remains very modest. But the situation may get different in the future, as more investors plan to pour money into the sector, VietnamNet Bridge online newspaper reported.
The number of Vietnamese cosmetics brands in the home market remainsvery modest. But the situation may get different in the future, as moreinvestors plan to pour money into the sector, VietnamNet Bridge onlinenewspaper reported.

There are about 100 cosmetics brands makingtheir presence in Vietnam, while 90 percent of the products available onthe market are the imports.

Vietnam is believed to be apotential cosmetics market with the average spending of 4 USD per personper annum on cosmetics, much lower than that of 20 USD in Thailand.

Areport of a market survey firm released recently showed that 30 percentof students aged 15-16 at 30 schools in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, DaNang and Can Tho begin using some basic skin care and make-up products.

The proportions are 70 percent 17-19 year old students and 90 percent for over 19 year old students.

The figures only counted on the students who use at least three cosmetic products.

Presidentof Sai Gon Cosmetics Company Nguyen Kim Thoa has noted that makingcosmetics for young customers has become the new target of all cosmeticsmanufacturers.

Foreigners playing on Vietnamese playing field

Foreignbrand cosmetics have been flooding the domestic market, available atluxurious shopping malls, cosmetics shops and supermarkets. Meanwhile,domestic brands just account for 10 percent of the market share, mostlytargeting low income earners and rural consumers.

Largedistribution network, big advertisement campaigns and renovated productsare believed to be the three factors that help foreign brands conquerthe domestic market.

Foreign brand cosmetics have been favouredalso because of the increasingly high number of middle class incomeearners, who have demand for high quality branded cosmetics.

Whilethe information about foreign products can easily reach to consumersthrough mass media, Vietnamese products remain unfamiliar to Vietnamesepeople.

General Director of My Hao Cosmetics Luong Van Vinh saidVietnamese companies remain not financially capable enough to runbig-scale ad campaigns to popularise their products. They cannot pay forTV ads and cannot afford the retail premises rent at trade exhibitions.

Natural materials will save domestic cosmetics industry

Despitethe current inferiority of domestic brands to foreign ones, analystsstill believe that Vietnamese producers have the opportunities to regainthe market in the future.

The biggest advantage Vietnameseproducers can take is the profuse and diversified material source -essential oils, aromatherapy, peppermint, lemongrass, anise – thetraditional materials favoured by Vietnamese. People all over the worldnowadays also favor the cosmetics made of natural material essences.

Thestories about Thorakao or Thai Duong are the typical examples provingthat Vietnamese brands can also succeed if they follow the right path.

However,Vietnamese enterprises have been warned that big difficulties are stillahead. Le Chau Giang, Legal Director of Johnson & Johnson AsiaPacific, noted that Vietnamese are capable to make high qualityproducts, but they still need the state’s support to development.

“TheVietnamese cosmetics industry would still lag behind other countriesunless the government can see that this is a very big and potentialindustry and encourages its development,” she said.-VNA

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