Inside Philippines cosmetics market

In 2009, despite the global recession and its attendant effects across industries, cosmetics manufacturers in the Philippines were still projecting at least a 6% growth. These numbers become even more relevant given the fact they are driven by sales of low cost products – with “sachet” sales taking the lead across all categories, even as market demand moves toward products that deliver a combination of immediate results and long term effects, at the lowest cost possible. This has pushed manufacturers to introduce products that are not just effective, but efficient at all levels of the value chain. The result is a truly vibrant, exciting and innovative industry striving to respond to the demands of an increasingly sophisticated market with limited spending resources.

Skin care is king

Even more astonishing is the fact that in 2008, the skin care category overtook sales of hair care products for the first time ever, registering a 27% share of the market. Hair care sales comprised 25% and oral care products brought in 22%. The market’s continuing romance with all things whitening continued to drive sales for skincare, and promises to continue doing so with a forecasted growth of 17% over the next 3 years. Over the last two years, whitening products were still the most actively-developed by local manufacturers, with an average major launch of five new whitening products a year, mostly targeted for mass market consumption. SkinWhite, the flagship brand of local cosmetics giant Splash Corporation, dominates the whitening market with a 32.5% and 43% market share for whitening lotions and whitening soap, respectively. Another Splash flagship, Maxipeel Exfoliant Range, virtually owns the liquid beauty product category. Owing to the success of its whitening line, Splash Corporation has also become the only local company to find a place in the industry’s top 10 players, alongside global leaders Unilever, Proctor & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson. While local manufacturers continue to offer innovations in whitening products, increasing market awareness through exposure to international trends has also given rise to the anti-ageing movement. Last year, this was led by the multinational brands with the introduction of Pond’s Age Miracle, Olay Regenerist, and Nivea DNAge. This year, local manufacturers followed suit with the launch of more anti-ageing lines positioned as “masstige” – products that are marketed like prestige brands but distributed and priced for a mass market. The most notable anti-ageing launch of 2009 was Celeteque Advanced Anti-Wrinkle Facial Moisturizer, from local pharmaceutical giant United Laboratories. Smaller local brands have also followed suit with their own anti-ageing lines, pushing the growth rate for local anti-ageing products to 17% for this year.