Cosmax Hosts Innovation Conference in Indonesia

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Global cosmetics research, development, and manufacturing (ODM) company Cosmax (CEO Kyung Choi and Byungman Lee) announced that it successfully held the Cosmax Innovation Conference for local clients at the Cosmax Indonesia R&I Center.

The event was held on the 3rd in a webinar (web + seminar) format in accordance with social distancing campaigns due to the global spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

With over 50 local product development managers from global clients such as Unilever attending, the conference began with a presentation on trends in the Indonesian natural cosmetics market and proposed new product samples utilizing local indigenous plants, Java tea and Moringa.

Java tea and Moringa are very familiar ingredients in Indonesia and are plants mainly cultivated for medicinal purposes in Southeast Asia. Cosmax developed cosmetics using these ingredients with concepts such as whitening and acne prevention, receiving great responses.

Following this, various new products tailored to the skin tones of Indonesian women were launched, including jelly eyeshadow, lipstick, lip cream, and cushion foundation. Notably, the event also introduced the OBM business model, which provides total solutions from brand development to marketing for beauty influencers and online brand companies.

Jung Minkyeong, head of Cosmax Indonesia, said, “As halal certification is being strengthened and demand for luxury cosmetics is expanding in Indonesia, interest in natural cosmetics is increasing. We are accelerating material development to continuously introduce new products specialized for the local market.”

In February, Cosmax signed an agreement with Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in Indonesia to jointly research cosmetic materials using plants grown locally. Based on the research results, they plan to gradually expand the natural cosmetics and halal cosmetics markets.

According to Euromonitor, the size of the Indonesian cosmetics market was approximately 6.48 trillion KRW in 2018, showing an average annual growth rate of 13%. It is expected that the market size will reach 11.45 trillion KRW by 2023.

In particular, with the Korean Wave gaining momentum and more brands entering the Indonesian market, the popularity of K-beauty is increasing. According to KOTRA, the import volume of Korean cosmetics in Indonesia in 2018 was about 29.08 million USD, more than doubling compared to the same period in the previous year (about 10.49 million USD).