The Russian cosmetics manufacturer Natura Siberica has begun to supply its products to African countries
Source：Vedomosti
From：Taiwan Trade Center, Moscow
Update Time：2024/01/20
The Russian cosmetics manufacturer Natura Siberica has begun to supply its products to African countries, a representative of the company told Vedomosti. According to him, so far, we are talking about Morocco and Tunisia, but negotiations are also underway with local partners in Egypt and Madagascar. He clarified that all shipments to new regions go through local distributors, and then cosmetics are delivered to retail and pharmacy chains. This information was confirmed by one of the company's partners in Africa. He clarifies that Natura Siberica cosmetics are already sold in pharmacies in Tunisia. In Morocco, its products are sold through the online Buy platform and Accessories Shop stores.
The company itself is already actively working abroad. The Natura Siberica website states that its products are supplied to 85 countries around the world. Including last year, the Russian brand appeared in retail chains in eight countries of the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, UAE, etc.), as well as in Vietnam, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia. The products are presented in Nahdi hypermarkets and in Careefour retail chains in Dubai, in the Monoprix network in Qatar, and in Alyss networks in Cyprus. In 2023, Natura Siberica also entered the Central American market, and its products began to be sold in Costa Rica. We are talking about cosmetics of 100 different names, which are now represented in 154 stores of the Super Saloon chain and pharmacies, a company representative said. According to him, in 2024 Natura Siberica also intends to start deliveries to South America: Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil.
In 2023, the company's revenue from international sales exceeded last year's figures and increased by 30%, according to a representative of Natura Siberica. He did not give absolute figures, but the total turnover of international sales for 10 months of 2022 amounted to more than 20 million euros, Natura Siberica reported last year. "The Group is systematically expanding its geography, and we are confidently consolidating our status as a multinational company," says Felix Lieb, CEO of Natura Siberica Group. According to him, the company plans to sell both premium lines and mass market abroad.
Until 2021, Natura Siberica was one of the leaders in the production of natural cosmetics in Russia. After the death of the founder of the group, Andrei Trubnikov, in January 2021, until the end of 2022, the conflict between the heirs and their appointed managers lasted in the company. In January 2022, Felix Lieb, who previously worked at AFK Sistema, became CEO of Natura Siberica, and in May 2023. Sistema acquired the asset from the founder's heirs.
At the end of 2020, Andrey Trubnikov estimated the Natura Siberica business at $500 million, and at the beginning of 2022, experts called the figure at $70-100 million. The revenue of the main legal entities of Natura Siberica in 2020 totaled 11 billion rubles, in 2021 – 9.3 billion rubles (then some stores were closed and production stopped), in 2022 – 11.6 billion rubles, according to SPARK-Interfax.
Africa is a very promising region in terms of cosmetics supplies, says Mikhail Burmistrov, CEO of Infoline Analytics. According to the company Statista.com in 2023, the total volume of the beauty market on the African continent is $7.9 billion, and the average annual growth rate is expected to be 8.79% over the next five years. 87% of cosmetics consumed belong to the mass market and are distributed through retail chains, according to Cosmoprof. Its analysts note that it is not easy to enter this market, since the needs of local consumers are very different from those of Western buyers, they have different types of hair, skin and physique. The extreme climate with high temperatures also affects the situation, this is a problem for many brands. Strategically, the most interesting markets today, according to Cosmoprof, are South Africa and Nigeria, as well as Cameroon, Tanzania, Ghana, Ethiopia and Kenya.
But the South American beauty market is more capacious, according to Statista.com This year, it is estimated at $42.9 billion. Burmistrov says that the potential for Russian players there is quite large, although logistically it is not an easy direction. A study by the analytical company Mordor Intelligence talks about high competition in the South American market of care cosmetics. Thus, international brands such as L'Oréal, Oriflame, Shiseido, Estée Lauder, Avon, etc. are already widely represented in this region, as well as large market shares owned by local companies, such as Natura Cosmetics and Grupo Boticario in Brazil. Analysts estimate the growth rate of the cosmetics market in this region at an average annual 3.3% in the next five years.
So far, none of the major Russian cosmetics companies in Africa and South America are working, consultants interviewed by Vedomosti say. According to them, this is due precisely to the fact that these markets are considered difficult from the point of view of logistics.
Source: https://www.vedomosti.ru/business/articles/2023/12/25/1012704-natura-siberica-nachinaet-postavlyat-produktsiyu-v-strani-afriki-i-yuzhnoi-ameriki?utm_campaign=newspaper_25_12_2023&utm_medium=email&utm_source=vedomosti