Tag Archives: Hong Kong

20/12/2024 · 13:06

Cosmoprof Asia 2024: [Show Report]

The 27th Cosmoprof Asia trade fair was, incidentally, my 10th Cosmoprof HK show (if you count the two digital fairs during the pandemic and the Singaporean edition in 2022). Despite Typhoon Toraji passing Hong Kong on the night of the first trade show day and delaying the opening of the fair on Day 2 for a few hours, it was a good show.

And here are the annual stats for Cosmoprof Asia 2024: A total of 2,500+ exhibitors from 47 countries/territories exhibited at HKCEC (13th-15th November, Cosmoprof) and AsiaWorld Expo (12th to 14th November, Cosmopack) and 60,975 attendees from 119 countries attended the two shows. A solid performance although the comparatively low official visitor numbers surprised me a bit – the show certainly seemed as busy at Cosmoprof Asia 2023 but according to the official data, fewer visitors attended this year. Not sure why.

If you’re interested in my previous Cosmoprof Asia trade show articles here are the direct links to Cosmoprof Asia 2014, Cosmoprof Asia 2015, Cosmoprof Asia 2016, Cosmoprof Asia 2017, Cosmoprof Asia 2018, Cosmoprof Asia 2019, Cosmoprof Asia 2020 (digital), Cosmoprof Asia 2021 (digital) and Cosmoprof Asia 2022.

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31/12/2023 · 12:05

Cosmoprof Asia 2023: [Show Report]

In 2023, Cosmoprof Asia finally returned to its home town of Hong Kong: Cosmopack (packaging, supply chain etc.) in AsiaWorld Expo near the airport and Cosmoprof (finished cosmetics, salon beauty, hair and nails) at HKCEC in Wan Chai. And it was such a good show, packed with visitors and busy across the four days of the fair (14th to 16th November for Cosmopack, 15th to 17th November for Cosmoprof).

As usual, I focused on the retail beauty side of things: Perfumery, Cosmetics Toiletries in Hall 1E, with only a quick visit to Professional Beauty Salon, Spa Products & Equipment in Hall 3E. While I do track the salon beauty sector there’s only so much time in the day. Therefore I mostly skipped this section as well as Salon Hair in Hall 3G and Nail Products & Accessories in Hall 5G.

In total, there were 2,400+ exhibitors from 44 countries across both Cosmoprof and Cosmopack, and 65,582 visitors from 119 countries and regions. Visitor numbers were almost back to the 2018 edition which is really encouraging.

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01/01/2021 · 14:33

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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14/12/2019 · 20:21

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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01/01/2019 · 16:00

Retail notes from Hong Kong: [Store Profile] Mi Ming Mart

On my very last afternoon in Hong Kong I visited beauty retailer Mi Ming Mart‘s Causeway Bay outlet.

It was actually a recommendation by someone I had met at Cosmoprof Asia trade show the previous day: Sophie from Hong Kong-based organic beauty distributor Aura HK – the company’s portfolio includes European brands like Dr. Hauschka, Melvita, Sanoflore, Flow Cosmetics and Avril – suggested that I check out Mi Ming Mart, a clean beauty store chain founded by a Chinese beauty KOL (Key Opinion Leader = Influencer). It sounded intriguing (and I do love me some female entrepreneurship!) so I went – and Mi Ming Mart is indeed a fascinating retailer.

The first Mi Ming Mart was opened in 2009, so the company has been a mainstay of Hong Kong’s niche beauty retail scene for almost a decade. Founder Erica Yuen is a former beauty queen turned social media icon/celebrity who was also active in local politics between 2011 and 2016 – she is the co-founder of Hong Kong’s radical pro-democracy party Power Voters and from 2013 to 2016 served as chairperson of the pro-democracy People Power party before focusing on further expanding her retail business.

Which she seems to have been doing successfully: in February 2018 Mi Ming Mart was listed on the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) of Hong Kong’s stock exchange. According to parent company Inwell International’s annual report, group revenue grew 19.3% to HKD 123.4 million in the financial year ending March 2018 – a result which can be traced back to the opening of three new retail stores (Quarry Bay, Tuen Mun and Tseung Kwan O) and the strong performance of skin care sales. The company’s gross profit climbed 18.4% to HKD 74.8 million over the same period.

For more information on the company and the store click on the link below!

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01/01/2018 · 20:20

[Brand Profile]: Kimature

I first came across Hong Kong-based beauty company Kimature at China Beauty Expo 2017 in Shanghai this May and was immediately intrigued by this unusual organic beauty brand. Not only are Kimature’s products based on TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) plant extracts but the brand’s cosmetics are manufactured right there in Hong Kong with locally sourced herbal ingredients.

When I was in town a few months ago for Cosmoprof Asia 2017 I met up with founder Kim Chen and her husband Edward Ian and asked them a bunch of question about their company. Click on the link below for more information about Kimature’s products and the concept behind the brand.

Kimature White Jade Orchid range

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24/11/2016 · 09:35

Retail notes from Hong Kong: [Show Report] Cosmoprof Asia 2016

Well, the 21st edition of Asia’s biggest beauty trade show has come and gone. Cosmoprof Asia 2016 took place from 15th to 18th November 2016.

This year, organisers UBM BolognaFiere had divided the trade show into two sections: Ingredients, Machinery/Equipment, Pack & OEM took place from 15th-17th November at AsiaWorld-Expo; Cosmetics & Toiletries, Salon Beauty, Hair & Nails was at Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre from 16th-18th November.

Since my focus is retail cosmetics I spent the entire trade show at HKCEC. And like Cosmoprof Asia 2014 and Cosmoprof Asia 2015, Cosmoprof Asia 2016 turned out to be a fabulous show: I discovered interesting new beauty brands and met up with many familiar faces – it was an exciting (and exhausting!) three days.

Click on the link below for some of my favourite brand discoveries!

cosmoprof-asia-2016-24

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22/07/2016 · 10:47

OWN: A special edition for Natural Products Asia 2016 trade show

The latest issue of Organic & Wellness News has just gone online: we have published an e-paper with Asia-specific content on the occasion of Natural Products 2016 trade show which will take place in Hong Kong this August. I contributed two articles: an interview with industry expert Mei Graefe on the cross-border e-commerce business in mainland China and an interview with Brenda Lee, founder of Hong Kong’s biggest organic perfumery chain Beyorg. Enjoy!

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21/11/2015 · 22:03

Retail notes from Hong Kong: [Show Report] Cosmoprof Asia 2015

The last stop on my Asian tour was Hong Kong – and the big event here was, of course, Cosmoprof Asia! Not only is it the most important C&T trade show for the entire Asian region but the fair also celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2015. Congratulations!

The official trade show stats for 2015 speak for themselves: there were 2,504 exhibitors from 46 countries which marks an increase of 6% compared to 2014. A total of 63,241 visitors from 119 countries attended the trade show (+ 5.5%) and there was a 7% increase in visitors from outside the Hong Kong area (including me!).

And here are some more facts and figures: there were 22 country and group pavilions (Korea was the biggest exhibitor and Chile attended for the first time), total exhibition space grew 3% to over 84,000 sq m and Italy and the US were the countries of honour because of their continued support of Cosmoprof Asia.

At the official Cosmoprof Asia press conference, organizers UBM and BolognaFiere also announced the following news: because the trade fair has grown so much over the last few years, the 2016 edition will take place in two different venues.

Cosmetics, Salon, Hair, Nails & Accessories will remain in the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre; Packaging, Ingredients, Equipment, Private Label etc. will move to Asiaworld Expo. The 2016 fair dates are 15th to 17th November for Asiaworld Expo and 16th to 18th November for the Convention Centre which means that there is an extra day for visitors who want to take in both parts of the show.

But all of that is still in the future; join me now for a tour around Cosmoprof Asia 2015 featuring, in no particular order, some of my favourite brands and companies from across the world. By the way: this article is even longer than my usual trade show reports – you have been warned!

Cosmoprof intro (2)

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15/11/2014 · 15:02

Retail notes from Hong Kong: [Show Report] Cosmoprof Asia 2014

I arrived in Hong Kong a few days ago to attend Cosmoprof Asia, the biggest and most important C&T trade show in the Asian region. This year’s Cosmoprof Asia took place from 12th to 14th November at Hong Kong’s Convention & Exhibition Center in Wan Chai. Click on the link below to read more on the show.

Kowloon (19)

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