In this second interview with INTERCOS, EsteticaExport spoke with Filippo Manucci, Global Senior Vice President of Skincare, Hair & Personal Care and Fragrances, to better understand the role that haircare products have in the private label industry. He also discusses the prospects for the development of the sector from a more global perspective, driven by recovery across the Asian markets.
What can you tell us about your recent travels to China? What do you think of that market?
“Despite three tough years of lockdown, China is still a growing Market and there are increasing opportunities to come. I spent the first two days in Shanghai at China Beauty Expo, the most important fair dedicated to the beauty sector in Asia, where we were attending with our own pavilion. I was really impressed by the number of qualified visitors – there was an air of optimism and willingness to recover from the opportunities lost by the pandemic. In China and Hong Kong there is this clear sensation, given to me by customers and our team, that the next years will focus also on restarting traditional offline business, through investments in new retail formats that will allow the new opening of different points of sales. What I also noticed is a growing demand in the fragrance market, despite its low consumption data compared to what other countries have registered in recent years”.
From your recent experience, what do other countries think of the Italian private label sector and Intercos in particular?
“I would say Intercos is perceived as ODM (original design manufacturer) both by brands and the industry as a whole for the innovation we bring to products. Also, for our ability to anticipate consumer trends, through a mix of design and the research of high technology cosmetics formulations. We embody the all-Italian characteristic that brings excellence in cosmetics with the ability to understand and anticipate consumer trends. In this sense, Intercos is one of the – if not ‘the’ – best-known company in the world as a true ambassador for Made in Italy products, that in the last 50 years has spread globally. It has become an international player with subsidiaries in all continents and which now also include emerging markets such as India”.
Are there any other markets where you are planning to expand?
“As Renato Semerari has already stated in his interview, we are very interested in the high potential, fast-growing Asian market and in 2021, we bought a plant in Dehradun in India that officially opened last year and is now fully operative”.
CEO Renato Semerari also said that the hair and beauty sector is growing fast. As our magazine focuses mostly on professional haircare products, we’d like to ask how hair products fit into your development strategy? Could they become more important in your manufacturing?
“Haircare has become an important asset for our growth strategy since the acquisition in 2017 of Cosmint, a company specializing in skincare, haircare and personal care products. In our case, the focus on haircare is mainly to produce innovative formulations and high-value products (e.g., all related to scalp care) as well as on new formats that are complaint with the current regulation and sustainable requirements in the market. As a whole, hair products are one of the categories with the higher pro-capita consumptions in the world, therefore we foresee a growing trend in this business area as well”.
