Category Archives: Asia

Retail notes from Tokyo: [Show Report] Cosme Tokyo 2023

Cosme Tokyo 2023 was my first in-person Cosme Tokyo since the pandemic. The 2022 show actually took place offline again but back then travel to Asia was still impossible for Europeans, so I attended Cosme Tokyo 2022 digitally. Cosme Tokyo 2021 was a fully digital show as well. And here are the links to the 2020, 2019 and 2018 shows, if you’re interested.

Cosme Tokyo 2023 was smaller than its pre-pandemic editions. Then again, this has been the case with every international beauty trade show that I’ve attended over the past nine months (from Cosmoprof Bologna 2022 over Vivaness 2022 to Cosmoprof Asia 2022). I think it’ll be a few more years before these global trade fairs return to normal again.

Quite a few of Cosme Tokyo’s regular Japanese exhibitors didn’t attend the show this year, and the Chinese exhibitor contingent was also much smaller than usual. So was the number of European and US/Canadian brands, by the way – I only saw a half dozen or so non-Asian beauty companies at the fair. Still, it was a super interesting Cosme Tokyo and I was incredibly happy to be back at Tokyo Big Sight.

Halls (10)

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Retail notes from Singapore: [Show Report] Cosmoprof Asia 2022

Singapore! This is where Cosmoprof Asia 2022 took place this year. Hong Kong still has a lot of pandemic restrictions (presumably thanks to its mainland China overlords and that government‘s spectacularly restrictive and ineffectual zero covid policy) so the organisers decided to relocate Asia-Pacific’s most important trade show rather than cancel it outright. And I’m very happy they did. Relocate the fair, that is. This was first in-person Cosmoprof Asia since 2019 (and my first Asian trade show since Cosme Tokyo in January 2020) and it was marvellous to be finally back in Asia.

Halls (4)

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Cosme Tokyo 2022: [Show Report]

The 10th edition of Japan’s largest beauty retail show Cosme Tokyo took place from 12th to 14th January 2022 at Tokyo’s Big Sight Expo Centre.

Unlike last year’s event, Cosme Tokyo 2022 was not a hybrid show; it was held completely offline but luckily organizers RX Japan (formerly Reed Exhibitions Japan) had provided a detailed exhibitor database and digital product showcase. There were even two live-stream segments from the show (which were so much fun to watch!) so I attended from a distance, as per usual these days.

If you’re interested in checking out my previous trade show coverage, here are the links: Cosme Tokyo 2021, Cosme Tokyo 2020, Cosme Tokyo 2019, Cosme Tokyo 2018 and Cosme Tokyo 2014.

Cosme Tokyo LEAD

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Cosmoprof Asia Digital Week 2021: [Show Report]

Well, the second edition of virtual trade show Cosmoprof Asia Digital Week has come and gone. First introduced in 2020 as a substitute for the cancelled Cosmoprof Asia trade show in Hong Kong, CADW 2021 had the same format as last year’s show (here’s the link to my Cosmoprof Asia Digital Week 2020 article) – the Match & Meet database for exhibitors and visitors, online exhibitor database, Cosmotalks lectures, Cosmostage product demonstrations. The whole event took place from 8th to 16th November 2021.

This year I was registered as Media/Press so I didn’t have access to Match & Meet but still found a lot of interesting beauty brands and trends, so let’s jump right in!

CADW title pic

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Cosme Tokyo 2021: [Show Report]

The 2021 edition of Japan’s largest cosmetics trade fair Cosme Tokyo took place as a hybrid event, with the offline show held in Tokyo’s Big Sight exhibition centre from 13th to 15th January.

The online version of Cosme Week Tokyo 2021 (which comprises Cosme Tokyo, Cosme Tech, Inner Beauty and Esthec Japan) opened a few days earlier and the digital exhibition booths stayed up for another week or so after the offline fair had closed. Since the pandemic is still raging over here in Europe I visited the digital edition of Cosme Tokyo 2021.

There were some 200-odd companies at Cosme Tokyo, Inner Beauty and Esthec Japan and around 150+ exhibitors at Cosme Tech. Smaller than the usual Cosme Week Tokyo shows but still impressive. According to organisers Reed Business Japan, 10,468 visitors attended the offline edition of the fair.

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Cosmoprof Asia Digital Week 2020: [Show Report]

My first trade fair report since the Corona pandemic hit Europe in spring 2020! As I’m finishing this article  Europe is knee-deep into the second wave of Covid-19. Germany is now in its second (or third? It’s difficult to keep track) consecutive lockdown and it doesn’t look like the situation is going to improve anytime soon.

At least the Asian C&T trade fair circuit is slowly starting up again. The organisers of Cosme Tokyo fair, for example, have annouced that the January trade show will take place as a hybrid event (13th to 15th January; offline in Tokyo’s Big Sight expo centre and online in cyberspace). I already signed up for the virtual edition!

However, Cosmoprof Asia Digital Week (CADW) in November 2020 was probably the first fully digitalised beauty trade fair to have taken place since Covid-19 appeared on the scene. I enjoyed the event tremendously – organisers Bologna Fiere and Informa Markets did a great job – and when I go through my Instagram trade show coverage, it really does look and feel like I attended a real-life trade fair.

Anyhow, the first virtual edition of Asia-Pacific’s biggest C&T trade show Cosmoprof Asia took place from 9th to 17th November 2020. Originally the fair dates were 9th to 13th November, but the event turned out to be so successful in terms of scheduled business meetings and video chat traffic that the organisers extended the show for another few days.

And if you’re interested in what the usual offline Cosmoprof Asia trade fairs are like, check out my trade show reports from the last years – Cosmoprof Asia 2014, Cosmoprof Asia 2015, Cosmoprof Asia 2016, Cosmoprof Asia 2017, Cosmoprof Asia 2018 and Cosmoprof Asia 2019.

CADW 2020 (4)

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Retail notes from Tokyo: [Show Report] Cosme Tokyo 2020

I was in Tokyo recently for the 8th edition of Japan’s largest retail cosmetics trade show: Cosme Tokyo 2020 took place from 20th-22nd January at Makuhari Messe. The trade fair had relocated from Tokyo Big Sight exhibition centre to Makuhari in Chiba prefectures a few years ago – in 2021, however, Cosme Tokyo will return to Tokyo Big Sight.

Anyway, Makuhari Messe is around 40 minutes by local train from Tokyo Station – i.e. good transport connections if you’re staying in the Chiyoda area. I had booked my hotel in Kanda (one stop away from Tokyo Station) so my daily commute to the trade show was very manageable.

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Retail notes from Hong Kong: [Show Report] Cosmoprof Asia 2019

As you can imagine, this year’s Cosmoprof Asia was massively overshadowed by the political situation in Hong Kong (#StandWithHongKong).

Many international exhibitors had cancelled their appearance at short notice, the majority of attendees from mainland China (one of the biggest visitor demographics for Cosmoprof Asia) also decided to skip the show this year; and so did quite a few international visitors.

I had booked my usual Wan Chai hotel in walking distance of HKCEC and my part of the neighbourhood remained fairly quiet this week so I felt pretty safe throughout my entire stay in Hong Kong. And I did enjoy Cosmoprof Asia 2019 despite everything!

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Retail notes from KL: [Show Report] Beauty Expo Malaysia 2019

Here, at long last, is my trade show review of Malaysia’s biggest beauty and salon C&T trade fair, Beauty Expo 2019 – and not a minute too soon (I’ll be leaving for Cosmoprof Asia/Hong Kong in a few days).

So let’s get started! Beauty Expo Malaysia is billed as South East Asia’s longest-running cosmetics trade show; it took place for the 19th time this year. And although the fair’s key focus are the Malaysian salon, makeup, hair and spa sectors there were still more than enough retail brands to keep me happy : )

Click on the link below to find out more about my favourite brand discoveries.

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Retail notes from Bangkok: [Show Report] Beyond Beauty ASEAN 2019

It was my first visit to Beyond Beauty ASEAN Bangkok (or BBAB for short) and – spoiler alert – it’ll also be my last BBAB. The reason: from 2020 onwards Beyond Beauty ASEAN will be combined with another key Thai beauty show (ASEAN Beauty) to form the latest addition to the Cosmoprof world of cosmetics trade fairs: Cosmoprof CBE ASEAN Bangkok (organised by BolognaFiere, Informa Markets and China Beauty Expo). These are the three of the biggest cosmetics trade show organisers in the world (and definitely the leaders in the Asian markets) so the new show is bound to be interesting, to say the least!

The reason why Cosmoprof CBE will continue to take place in Bangkok is simple: Thailand is the biggest beauty retail market in the ASEAN region and (excepting Singapore) it’s also the most highly developed ASEAN country. In fact, according to official figures by the Federation of Thai Industries, the Thai beauty and personal care market is growing strongly. In 2018, the market reached a total value of 6.2 billion USD, says Federation chairman Suphan Mongkolsuthree. And the industry grew 7% annually over the past six years making it the #1 export country amongst the largest export income earners in the ASEAN region.

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