BEAUTY REPORT: UNILEVER
Unilever expansion philosophy builds on Carver Korea acquisition
Around nine months have passed since Unilever agreed to buy leading skincare business Carver Korea for €2.3bn ($2.7bn) and the signs look healthy for the FMCG group’s personal care strategy, as Luke Barras-Hill reports.
Above: AHC unit at The Shilla Duty Free outlet in Incheon International Airport T2.
Below: AHC The Pure Real Eye Cream For Face.
F
ew would have viewed the announcement
to snap up one of Korea’s leading
skincare businesses in September as anything other than a shrewd move for consumer goods conglomerate Unilever. The $2.7bn swoop for Carver
Korea, which delivered sales of €321m ($379m) and EBITDA of €137m ($162m) in 2016, allows Unilever and its 400-strong brand portfolio (around 38 of which fall into the beauty segment) to strengthen its market position. Alan Jope, Unilever President
Personal Care was clear at the time the deal was agreed that the rapidly rising Korean skincare firm would play an important role in Unilever’s regional expansion. “It will significantly strengthen our
position in North Asia, the largest skincare market in the world and will complement our existing portfolio, enabling us to offer luxury skincare
Steady quarter one results corroborate Unilever’s attention to emerging markets, with growth of 5.1% linked to volume gains.
TRBusiness 42 TRBUSINESS
products at attainable price points,” he stated.
K-Beauty inroads South Korea’s position as the fourth largest skincare market in the world, according to Unilever, means the purchase of Carver Korea can unlock new inroads into the perpetual ‘K-Beauty’ hive of consumer excitement. In turn, Unilever was left impressed with Carver Korea’s rise from its origins as an aesthetics company supplying professional products to beauty salons to its transformation into one of South Korea’s fastest growing skincare names, buoyed by sales from skincare and cosmetic brand AHC. Steady quarter one results
corroborate Unilever’s attention to emerging markets, with growth of 5.1% linked to volume gains. More broadly, the beauty and personal care segment where Unilever places focus on for travel retail continued to innovate and expand. For Unilever, this expansion
strategy appears to be playing out more fully in recent months through AHC. “It’s all about extension beyond
where the growth of the brand is,” comments Sze Tian Poh, Personal Care Lead SEA & Australasia Cluster, Unilver Asia Private Limited. AHC, which flanks other market
players such as Sulwhasoo and The History of Whoo from AmorePacific and LG Household & Health Care, respectively, has recorded a sensational CAGR of circa 80% between 2015 to 2017. Rosalyn Frayna, Global Travel
Retail Business Unit Lead, Unilever International reaffirms that the giant strides are in line with the continuing popularity of the Korean Wave culture. Interestingly, the trend towards K-beauty is extending well beyond Korea’s borders; aside China and parts of South East Asia it is hitting the likes of Russia and the US. “Other than Koreans, the biggest
customers are Chinese because of their affinity to Korean popular culture, the whole of South East Asia, Russia and the US,” says Tian Poh. “For example, Korean beauty has
entered into the US in key cities. You have AmorePacific that is very active over there, so we need to follow suit. “We are just starting to go beyond South Korea and are looking at a few
JUNE 2018
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