“K-beauty” led by Cosmax · Kolmar Korea tops US imported cosmetics market, surpassing France ”

[Korea Financial Times, Son Wontae] K-beauty is so popular that sales of K-beauty products increased by more than 75% on Amazon's global store last year.

Cosmax, a global cosmetics ODM, posted sales of KRW 1.08 trillion in the first half of this year, up 22.2% year-on-year, and established a local subsidiary, Cosmax USA, including a factory and research center in New Jersey, in 2013 to spread K-beauty in North and South America.

Kolmar Korea is also leading the K-beauty craze in the global market, signing new contracts with 253 customers, mainly indie brands, last year (up 48.7% year-on-year).

Recognizing the importance of the North American market, Kolmar Korea proactively laid the foundation for global expansion by acquiring Kolmar USA (formerly PTP) and Kolmar Canada (formerly CSR) in 2016.

In 2022, the company acquired 100% of the 'Kolmar' brand trademark rights, securing exclusive rights to the brand and enabling it to operate in the U.S. and global markets without trademark restrictions. Last year, the company opened the North American Technical Sales Center in New Jersey, USA, to expand its sales network.

In the meantime, Minister of SMEs and Startups Oh Young-joo gave a lecture on the theme of "Internationalization Strategy of Korean SMEs" at the Korea-U.S. Business Friendship Forum (KABFF) held at the Seoul Press Center on the 25th, stressing that "K-beauty is emerging as a new leading player in the Korean Wave in the global market. We will spare no effort to support K-cosmetics, which is considered a representative example of the success story, to enter the U.S."

“Looking at the current status of Korea's exports to the U.S. and China, the share of exports to the U.S. (19.2%) exceeded the share of exports to China (18.9%) in the first half of this year,” Oh said, stressing that ”economic cooperation between Korea and the U.S. is more important than ever amid the U.S.-China hegemonic competition and the reorganization of global supply chains centered on allies.”

In particular, Minister Oh said, "In the first four months of this year, Korean cosmetics exceeded 20% in the share of imported cosmetics in the U.S., surpassing French products," adding, "Korean mid-sized and small-sized companies such as Cosmax and Kolmar Korea are responsible for 70% of exports to the U.S., rather than large companies such as LG Household & Health Care and AmorePacific." She also added, "Korean retailers, including Olive Young, and Amazon in the U.S. are also playing an important role in spreading Korean cosmetics to the U.S. market."

In addition, she cited "Goodai Global", a small and medium-sized Korean cosmetics company that entered the U.S. market through Amazon and generated KRW 140 billion in sales under the “Beauty of Joseon” brand, as a prime example of the K-beauty success myth.

“Since announcing the K-beauty global strategy in July, we have been accelerating support for startups and SMEs to enter the U.S. market, and are planning to hold contests and cosmetics exhibitions to discover new products starting in December,” said Minister Oh.

Son Wontae (tellme@fntimes.com)