Philippines soap brand targets Nigeria Market

A personal care company in the Philippines has announced it is expanding its operations due to increasing global demand.

GT Cosmetics, a soap manufacturer, has announced its upcoming move to a facility three times larger than its current premises, in response to demand from North America and Europe and its intended entry into the Malaysia and Nigeria markets.

The company’s COO confirmed to The Sun Star media outlet that GT Cosmetics anticipates a huge volume of demand from the two new markets, set to dramatically increase its global exports which currently sit at 10% of its production.

Alongside this growth in international popularity, the company’s domestic output is on the rise too: “We are building a bigger plant in preparation for orders from Malaysia and Nigeria. Plus, there is a growing business in the Philippines,” Leonora Salvane, COO, confirmed.

GT Cosmetics enjoys domestic success because it taps into some the demand held by Filipino consumers: natural ingredients.

Papaya is the major ingredient of preference in the country, as it is considered to be a skin whitening agent, but research firm Euro monitor International notes that as the market builds, demands for novel naturals is growing.

“Bath and shower companies continue to explore other natural ingredients as they are perceived as having no undesirable effects on the skin,” the consultancy research firm states.

“Coconut water, for instance, is among the novel ingredients for the category incorporated in Dial Coconut Water soap and body wash. South Korean brand Holika, meanwhile, uses egg whites for its Egg Soaps. Malunggay (horseradish) is also used in bar soap by the Moringa-O2 brand.”

At present, P&G is the dominant player in the personal care category in the Philippines, Euro monitor notes, holding just over a third of the market share there.

GT Cosmetics puts its steady growth since its conception in 1994 down to the digitalisation of word-of-mouth reputation building, particularly the power of social media.

“Thanks to social media blogs, the word-of-mouth or peer-to-peer marketing strategy of the company proved powerful in getting a share of the international market for beauty soaps and cosmetic products,” it confirms on its website.