São Paulo – If hairdressers in Brazil are used to working without formalin due to a demand by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), in Egypt the component is broadly used in beauty salons. Now, Sipec, an Egyptian distributor that is part of the Kharma Group, is closing deals to ship its formalin-free products for treatment of Arab women.
The president at Kharma Group, Ismail Kharma, came to Brazil especially to know about the Self Cosméticos treatment, a company makes products for exclusive use by professionals.
"We are going to introduce a new concept to salons in Egypt. We are going to start gradually, with 100 salons to begin with, and to increase or double with every six months. Then, we are going to develop other markets, like the Emirates and Syria," said Ismail.
Apart from being a distributor, Kharma Group makes beauty products, like perfumes and make-up, and also operates in the fields of clothes and garments. In the sector of retail cosmetics, the company imports from countries like the United States and France. The distributor has representative offices in the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon, as well as agents in Saudi Arabia, Libya, Syria and Morocco. The group’s revenues are US$ 40 million a year.
This is the first time that the group buys from Brazil and, according to its president, should have exclusive rights on import of Self Cosméticos professional hair products.
"I noticed that it would be beneficial to have a partnership with a Brazilian company because the conditions (the types of hair) are more similar to those of Brazil than to those of Europe, and the quality is much better than that purchased from Asia," said Ismail.
Luiz Carlos de Paiva, the owner at Self, explains that he had already sent samples to Egypt some months ago, and that this week the distributors came to inspect the treatment. "Yesterday we spent the entire day working on treatment and we have already closed the order," he said. "Egypt is a marvellous market. I am sure that we will have great business. They left their country to learn about our product and are enchanted."
Apart from hair products, the Egyptians are also taking body cream. "They are buying the products for transformation and also for treatment: for hair straightening, moisturising and keratin hair treatment. We have finishers and cream for body regeneration, for chaps, skin marks or even stretch markets," said Paiva. He also added that importers are also interested in other company lines and that new negotiations should take place in future.
Paiva explains that the company has already exported to Venezuela, Bolivia, Paraguay and Benin, as well as having closed deals with Spain. He does not reveal the volume of revenues, but says that the company is medium sized. Today, sales on the foreign market represent 28% of company revenues, but this figure should rise. "The target is to reach 45% of revenues with exports by the end of the year, he pointed out. Self Cosméticos is headquartered in Ribeirão Preto and has been on the market for 14 years, always working with distributors.
"We have the National Distribution Centre in São Paulo which provides assistance for the national and international market in terms of technical and commercial development of company products. We have over 60 items in line and, according to the distributor’s needs, we may develop a mix to supply them."
To the president of Kharma Group, Egyptian clients can only win with the formalin-free products. "It is very interesting, as cosmetics in Egypt have this component that is illegal in Brazil and consumers lose with that. We are now introducing a new concept. I believe it must be successful," he said. And he adds: "The price of products containing formalin is also not low. We are going to show that to professionals and consumers. We have many tools to gain market share."
*Translated by Mark Ament
