São Paulo – The products made by QOD Cosmetic, from Rio Grande do Sul, are already present in hairdressing salons in seven Arab countries. With a distributor in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, the company also takes its cosmetics to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, Kuwait, Sudan and Egypt.
Sales to the Arab world began five years ago after requests made on the internet. “The importers are Lebanese, from the same region my mother came from,” said Fernando Hilal, a company partner. “This has become excellent business, not to mention the friendship we have developed,” reveals the businessman.
Currently, the company only exports professional line products to the Arabs, but, starting in April, it should also start exporting the line for sales in beauty shops.
“We have a new line, with 60% concentration of ingredients used in the professional line and that may be sold to end users,” said Hilal. He also explained that Arab distributors should come to Brazil to be trained on the products.
"It is very interesting to increase the market share in the Arab countries. I imagine that our export will double in size after people from Dubai receive the training,” said Hilal. According to the businessman, the new line brings great expectation regarding greater sales in the region.
Last year, shipments to the Emirates totalled 28 tonnes of products, 10% of the total exported by the company in the period. In January this year, QOD shipped eight tonnes of cosmetics to the Middle East.
The company’s main product, says Hilal, is the keratin brush. “It provides hair straightening for up to 120 days, and also recovers the locks and provides an anti-frizz effect on the roots,” he said. The company has great variety of hair products, including shampoos, conditioners, straightening products, finishing products, masks and treatment capsules, among others.
In total, QOD exports to 60 countries, turning 70% to 75% of production to the foreign market. The main destinations for sales abroad are the United States, England, Mexico, Australia and the Emirates.
Apart from products under the company’s own brand, QOD also exports cosmetics for sales under client brands. Among the countries to which the company makes this kind of sale are Egypt, Kuwait, Libya and Algeria. That is, if the business is taken into account, the QOD presence goes beyond the seven countries in the region.
Established eight years ago, QOD Cosmetic is headquartered in Porto Alegre, in Rio Grande do Sul. The company has 18 employees and, in 2012, had revenues of R$ 20 million.
Contact
QOD Cosmetic
Tel.: (+55 51) 3374 3851
E-mail: fernando@qodhair.com
Site: www.qodhair.com
*Translated by Mark Ament
