With his long experience as an international private label specialist and as team leader for Kirschner in Europe, Andrea Rosa offers a comprehensive selection of Italian manufacturers for distributors and beauty brands around the world who are looking to hook up with suitable partners.
Estetica Export has asked him some questions about the recent evolution of the private label sector, as well as his point of view on the global beauty industry as a whole.
What is the importance of Private Label services for the international hair & beauty industry?
“PL was very important, now is getting paramount! You’ll have noticed in recent years that at Cosmoprof Bologna and Cosmoprof Asia, the big Italian manufacturing brands are also showcasing their PL division with a dedicated booth.
Nowadays, companies that own a brand need a PL manufacturer to support them, but this is also true for successful distributors.
When a distributor builds a prosperous business in a certain country, you often hear of some brands that want to open direct operations, maybe after a private equity acquisition.
Moreover, the world is getting smaller every day, and companies focused on local distribution may realize they have many international connections that cannot generate business with just the brand they represent. So, they need to create a brand to sell worldwide”.
What is your role as a consultant in this field?
“Unlike the sales force of a single manufacturer, I am primarily focused on customer needs. To fulfil them, I can access the full capability of the whole Italian industry. This often involves 3- 4 laboratories, each working on their excellence range”.
What are the best sellers in the private label industry?
“Hair colour is the king, along with its complement of peroxide, bleach, and colour charts. Haircare is the backbone of every range, followed by styling and finishing: Italian aerosols, like bleaches, are an Italian commodity and a point of excellence at the same time: the quality/price ratio that Italy can offer in these ranges is unbeatable.”
What are the products that are most promising now and are there any new trends on the horizon?
“The growing number of men’s ranges has generated an interesting development in styling products, such as pastes, waxes, gels and volumising powders.
On the other hand, viral marketing has generated new categories of products: 10 years ago, Olaplex created from zero the PLEX category; K18 a different way of reconstruction, Dream Coat Color WOW a new anti-frizz, TIGI a new way to use wax. All of these are heavily supported on social media and very often consumers enter shops showing the IG/TT page of the desired product and asking for it. Needless to say, Italian production can fulfil all the above and more!”
I understand you are increasing the range of products you offer, what are your new proposals and why?
“I have already mentioned aerosols: since focusing on this range, we at TKG international division have been getting orders from the 4 corners of the world.
Then we cannot forget Italian Hairdryers, which are unbeatable in design and technology! I’m also very happy about spray make-up, spray foundations and glosses, as well as our portfolio of fragrances.”
Your specialisation is in Italian private label manufacturing, where is the advantage in it?
“In many categories, we are the founders of this industry, 99% of the labs I work with are at least second generation, so we can count on decades of experience and knowledge, paired with the best technology. Let’s also mention that Italy can boast centuries, or even millennia, of a sense of beauty and art in its DNA.”
Italian Private Label manufacturers have been at the top for a long time, what other countries are growing?
“Generally speaking Spain is picking up in terms of production; for sure we have dedicated areas like Turkey for men´s brands, Korea for skin care and high-end electric tools, the Indian subcontinent is taking its first steps in export, and needless to say Brazil for straightening treatments, China for tools and the USA for hair care. From a different perspective North African Countries are producing a lot, but for the time being African demand is higher than production capability, so we won’t be seeing much of them for a while yet”.
Who are the best PL buyers and which countries do they come from?
“The best markets for Italian Private Label manufacturers are other European Countries and all the Americas. The Middle East and Australia love our excellence. Africa and Asia have such a huge local production that our market share is very small, but we are talking of a market of 6 billion people”.
Talking about hair salon accessories, who are the main international players at the moment?
“If you mean brushes, small tools and furniture, with very few exceptions, the market wants EU and USA design with Asian production for high-end and middle range, and full Asian products for lower prices.”
How do you see the future of this sector?
“Every human being takes care of his appearance immediately after satisfying basic needs such as food and shelter. So, as long as we have a social life, the beauty industry will flourish. Private Label is the backbone of our industry- it optimizes costs and keeps innovating every day”.
