São Paulo – Three years ago, Mutari, a company based in Minas Gerais state, entered the market of the United Arab Emirates when it did business with a distributor from Dubai. Now, the firm is planning to expand its sales to foreign markets and is eyeing other countries in the Middle East.
The contact with the Arab importer was made during a beauty sector trade show in São Paulo. “We talked to a company interested in working with us. We developed a business agenda, with a presentation of our company, technical training. Then, we started to ship to them, the product was approved in the market (UAE’s) and sales took place,” explains Fabiano Costa, Mutari’s executive director.
According to Costa, Mutari has now over 300 items in its product line. The Dubai distributor purchases products for hair straightening, dyeing and treatment, with the latter including reconstruction, nutrition and scalp treatment.
“We are planning to hold an workshop to some clients of this distributor, so they can stay from two to three days in a hotel receiving technical content from Mutari. It’s possible that it will be held this year still,” says the executive.
Costa works from Mutari’s branch in the United States, which coordinates the firm’s international businesses. The North American branch has products in stock and based on where Mutari closes a deal, the company decides from where the products will be shipped.
Currently, in addition to the North American and the UAE market, Mutari also has clients in England, Paraguay and Mexico. Costa says that, according to his client in Dubai, the products sold to him are also re-sent to beauty salons in Egypt, Iraq and Yemen. The cosmetics shipped to the Middle East come from the firm’s headquarters in Brazil.
Mutari’s current output is nearly 220,000 units per month. From this total, 3% to 5% are exported. However, the company is aiming to achieve a sharp growth in the next few years.
“We’re investing heavily in exports. We plan to bring exports to 30% to 50% of output in the next ten years and reach over one million items (per month),” said Costa.
With this expansion in sight, Costa says that he has had conversations with clients from other Middle East nations. “We already talked with distributors from Qatar and Saudi Arabia,” he says. The company is also interested in other markets, such as Portugal, France, Nigeria and Angola.
Mutari also takes part in many beauty fairs throughout Brazil and abroad. Last year, the company was an exhibitor for the first time at BeautyWorld Middle East, the industry’s main fair in the Middle East that takes place every year in Dubai.
Based in Belo Horizonte, Mutari was founded in 1996 and has over one hundred employees.
Contact info
Mutari
Website: www.mutari.com.br
Phone: +1 4079664499
Email: fabiano@mutariusa.com
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani