The Toiletries, Fragrance and Cosmetics sector (HPPC) has seen a growth of 15.62% in ex-factory net sales, increasing from R$ 29.4 billion in 2011 to R$ 34 billion in 2012. The Brazilian market is the third largest HPPC consumer. Its 10% share puts it behind the USA, with a 16% share, and Japan, with an 11%. The sector has maintained an average 10% real growth in Brazil over the last 17 years, with reasons for this consecutive increase including the burgeoning class C (or lowest rung of the middle class) allied to an improved income, the greater number of women in the workforce, the increased life expectancy, and companies’ investments in innovative research.
Brazil has 55% of the HPPC market in Latin America and 10% of the global market. It is also the biggest ex-factory world market in fragrance – R$ 5.4 billion, and in deodorants – R$ 3.3 billion, also ex-factory. This growth is the result of a strategy the Brazilian Association of the Toiletries, Fragrance and Cosmetics Industry (ABIHPEC) has been advocating: the promotion, development and launching of initiatives and tools to foster development of the HPPC industry.
As such, the ABIHPEC is backing “in-cosmetics” Brazil, the first Latin American trade fair dedicated solely to the components of Toiletries, Fragrance and Cosmetics. “Holding in-cosmetics is an important initiative for the sector, a sector in which research and innovation is a significant tool for the launch of new products. ABIHPEC works to strengthen the HPPC sector in the Brazilian market and consolidate it in the international market,” said João Carlos Basilio, president of the association.
ABIHPEC has over 350 associated companies, responsible for 94% of the sector’s revenue. ABIHPEC initiatives include the promotion of industrial innovation and development, via the work of its technological arm, ITEHPEC (Institute of Technology and Studies of Toiletries, Fragrance and Cosmetics), and the internationalization of the Brazilian HPPC industry, Beautycare Brazil. This is coordinated in partnership with Apex-Brasil (Brazilian Agency for the Promotion of Exports and Investments), which works to increase competition in this industry and reduce the barriers which hamper growth in exports.
ABIHPEC also works primarily in the fostering of advance in the industry and in the adoption of sustainable and social practices. These are aimed at promoting health care and valuing consumer wellbeing and self-esteem. As an environmental initiative, the association coordinates the program “Dê a Mão para o Futuro / Give the Future a Helping Hand”, concerned with the correct destination of urban solid waste. Via the ABIHPEC institute, the association develops social initiatives, such as the project “De Bem com Você – a Beleza contra o câncer” / Be Good to Yourself – Beauty Against Cancer, which works to rebuild the self-esteem of women undergoing treatment for cancer, via makeup workshops. A third example is the campaign “Pedofilia: não feche os olhos para isso / Don’t Close Your Eyes to Pedophilia”, which uses social media as a tool to promote complaints to fight this evil.
ABIHPEC’s final legacy, recently achieved in partnership with the Ministry of Health and with Anvisa, was the launch of an Automated Registration System for Toiletry, Fragrance and Cosmetics Products. This allows an electronic analysis of every step of cosmetics processes from start to finish, and will alleviate requests for permission to commercialize these products. Maintaining the business principles of ABIHPEC’s associated sphere can only strengthen the trust the sector’s leaders have in the association’s role as the leading voice of the industry in Brazil and worldwide.