Clariant Expands in India
Clariant, the Swiss chemical company, has been working with its Indian offshoot to come to an agreement
with Vivimed Lab. The Clariant operation will be acquiring a segment of the Indian Chemical company
in order to diversify its own offerings. It is hoped that
this acquisition will enable them to produce more sun
care, hair and skincare, and antimicrobial products. A
representative of the company said in a press release,
“The personal care industry in India offers us immense
potential, supported by the growing middle-class consumer population and the rising disposable income.
This strategic decision will be a significant step towards strengthening our product portfolio and thereby
reinforcing Clariant’s long term commitment in the
segment. We believe in the growth potential that India
offers and are focussed on expanding our footprint in
the region.”
Africa and Middle
East
UK Conglomerate Faces Exchange Rate
Issues in Africa
Rwanda and Ghana as quickly growing segments. Estee
Lauder recently announced plans to expand the MAC
brand into Rwanda, so it should be of little surprise for
the rest of the cosmetic leaders to take note. New insights point to extreme growth in the Middle Eastern
beauty market in particular. Current expectations predict that the market will increase by 74% to $80 billion
by 2020.
South African Sorbet Salon Celebrates 10th
Anniversary
One of South Africa’s most esteemed and largest Salon
groups has been celebrating its 10th anniversary. The
family business was started by Ian Fuhr in 2005 and
has rapidly expanding to 137 locations, one of the most
recent being a flagship store in London. Fuhr started the
business working with his three children and a niece,
and the family still own and operate five of the total
stores, the rest being franchises. Sorbet has been one of
the trend leaders in the area: in 2012 they started their
own Dry Bar and have since gone on to launch Sorbet
Man—catering to the growing men’s grooming industry in South Africa, and Candi & Co an, ethnic hair division. The total Sorbet group employs approximately
1,200 staff with 120 of the franchises being predominantly female; the company take pride in these statistics
and has made itself known as a charitable powerhouse
in the world of female empowerment.
PZ Cussons, the conglomerate of UK consumer goods,
announced some recent stats on its African and Asian
performance. Unfortunately, it seems that exchange
rates are affecting company sales. Nigeria remains the
company’s most diverse and largest market, and luckily
the exchange rate has remained fairly stable. The company did note that, “ Low oil prices continue to contribute to an environment of tight liquidity with additional foreign exchange restrictions imposed for certain
imported items.” Meanwhile changes in exchange rates
have been shown to have impacted sales in Kenya and
Ghana.
L’Oreal Looks to Emerging Markets
Although the personal care company sees most of its
profits, up to 60%, c oming from Western Europe and
North America, the corporation has recently turned
its focus to the Middle East and Africa. It’s reported
that the European market is losing steam, making less
tapped markets more interesting than ever. Recent stats
show that 40% of revenue for large cosmetics companies is coming from emerging markets. This is up from
2005 when these same markets only made up approximately 25%. L’Oreal in particular has been looking into
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