São Paulo – Last January, the cosmetics company Bitarra Beauty found its way into the United Arab Emirates, more specifically the relatively off-kilter city of Al Ain, in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. The city is not as known a destination for Brazilian products as Dubai, but this could mean even greater opportunities for the brand.
The deal with a representative in the UAE was closed earlier this year. “We used foreign trade and digital marketing platform channels. Then, in January, we contacted this representative in Al Ain and signed the partnership. He’s already worked with other brands, so we sent him some samples and he liked them,” said Lucas J. Vector Capeli, who works at the financial department of Bitarra Beauty.
Thereafter, the company decided to do some market research on the consumption in the region. “We saw that the Arab market has really grown over the last years and there are many opportunities in the region and the Middle East,” Capeli told ANBA.
One of the company’s strong suits are products focused on responsibility towards the environment and the production chain as a whole. “We’ve found that we already have many products that serve them well. We already work with cruelty-free and vegan products, which are in great demand in the Middle East and the world.”
Bitarra has a portfolio with over 500 products, including its full makeup line and skincare line. For the Arabs, the firm is betting on the skin care products, such as the facial moisturizer and the high-fix products, such as lipsticks and the water-resistant mascaras. “We know that the young audience has sought out more colors in makeup as well as skin care and hair products,” he stressed.
Exports currently makes up around 5% to 10% of the brand’s output, but the goal is stepping up this share. Therefore, the strategies are working more on digital marketing and influencers. “We saw that the share of influencers in the Arab market is big, so we want to understand how to work with that too. We’ve also studied the viability of having a halal certificate,” he explained.
Founded in 2001, the brand anticipated a trend that has dramatically grown during the coronavirus pandemic: Direct-to-consumer online sales. In 2019, the brand created the Bitarra Store, which sells around 300 to 500 products. The brand also works with distributors and direct-to-store sales.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
