Third Latin America edition of the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit is this week

With a clear focus on the Brazil market, by far the biggest in the region and one that is expected to overtake Japan as the third biggest cosmetics market in the world by 2020, a diverse range of speakers will be giving presentations on different angles of the natural and organic cosmetics industry, and the Cosmetics Design team will be attending the event to report the highlights.

The program is divided into four principle sessions over the course of the two days September 11 – 12 and will touch on some of the most important aspects of producing and marketing natural cosmetics in the Latin American and Brazil markets.

Program covers everything from distribution to green ingredients​

Day one will include a morning session devoted to sustainability initiatives, cluing in on how suppliers and manufacturers can enhance their businesses by going down this route, whereas the afternoon session will be devoted to the latest trends and technologies for green ingredients.

The second day will begin with a morning session devoted to marketing and distribution best-practices – a particularly pertinent session for the vast and complex Brazil market, while the final session will drill down deeper on the sustainability issue by assessing the metric involved.

Focusing on the Brazil market, analysts at event organizer Organic Monitor say that one particular theme that is expected to recur throughout the program is the fact that Brazilian consumers are both highly fashion conscious combined with a strong sense of environmental responsibility.

Success in Brazil is all about being eco-friendly​

In Brazil successful cosmetics companies such as Natura and Group Boticario have won over consumers with a mixture of increasingly sophisticated product lines that are marketed on the back of the company’s sustainable and environmentally-friendly credentials.

Underlining these credentials, Natura has been ranked number 2 in the Corporate Knights 2013 100 top sustainable corporations, while Boticario established its Group Foundation for Nature Protection in the country back in 1990.

“Apart from the ‘green factor’, cultural nuances and distribution are obstacles to market​ entry. Many cosmetic brands struggle with building distribution in the vast geographies ​of Brazil. The strength of its network marketing model has been fundamental to Natura ​Brasil’s market leadership. Group Boticario also takes the direct route via its chain of ​concept stores,”​ according to the Organic Monitor research team.

International players racing to get in on Brazil action​

The same research also indicates that the competition is hotting up in the Brazil market, with international brands now clambering to get a slice of the action.

This is underlined by the Body Shop acquiring a local competitor earlier this year to get its footing on the market, while Greek natural company Korres has also entered a strategic marketing alliance and Yves Rocher is also opening a network of concept stores throughout the country.

Trade barriers mean that entry into the Brazil market is often eased by finding a marketing and/or distribution partner, a point that will be stressed in a number of the presentations given during the conference program.