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South Africa Cosmetics & Personal Care Market Overview Webinar
Watch On-Demand Webinar
Learn the U.S. Commercial Service virtually to explore the market for U.S. cosmetics and personal care products in South Africa. Learn how your company can enter or expand into this promising market.
Hear from expert private- and public-sector organizations involved in exporting to South Africa:
- Sanjay Harryparshad, U.S. Commercial Service South Africa
- Detailed overview of South African trade and how the U.S. Commercial Service can support U.S. companies.
- Sinah Mosehla, Director, The South African Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition
- Discussed the regulatory and tariff framework that U.S. companies need to be aware of when doing business in South Africa.
- Ezra Aini, CEO Makari Skincare
- Provided a firsthand account of doing business in Africa, its challenges, his strategies and logistics.
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Put your U.S. personal care product directly in front of
vetted buyers and distributors on the continent with the
South Africa Personal Care Product Showcase
March 2024
U.S. companies with cosmetic and personal care products (including skin care, hair care, cosmetics etc.) ready for the South African market will conduct a “virtual pitch” to a vetted audience of potential buyers and distributors from South Africa. This is a great chance for U.S. companies pursuing the South African market to interact directly with potential partners without leaving the United States! The showcase will be completely virtual on a platform provided by the U.S. Commercial Service. All export ready U.S. based manufacturers of personal care products, with at least 51% U.S. content are welcome to apply. Vetting will be conducted on a rolling basis beginning on December 1, 2023. To express interest please contact Anastasia.Xenias@Trade.gov and Frantz.Eyssallenne@trade.gov.
Follow your showcase experience with virtual matchmaking.
April 2024
In a unique follow-through for companies that participated in the Product Showcase, Virtual Matchmaking with one-on-one meetings will be set up by the U.S. Commercial Service with the vetted South African buyers and distributors from the Product Showcase. Companies will have the opportunity to discuss potential business partnerships and solidify future relationships with select buyers and distributors. This is another great way to prepare to do business on the promising continent of Africa without the expense and challenges of traveling there:
- South African buyers and distributors will request appointments with select U.S. Showcase participants.
- U.S. Commercial Service will work to arrange specific meeting dates/times. Each meeting will last approximately 30-45 minutes.* Appointments will be 100% virtual and conducted on the online MS Teams platform.
- U.S. companies will receive detailed information about their appointments prior to attending, including the appointment access link and a buyer description.
- As a result of listening to all U.S. company presentations during the Product Showcase, the South African buyers will identify which U.S. companies they wish to have a follow-up one-on-one meeting. Then U.S. Commercial Service staff will work to find a mutually convenient time for both the South African buyer and the target U.S. company.
*Number of appointments may vary.
Cost: $390/small business (Includes Product Showcase and Virtual Matchmaking Appointments)**
** Large business cost may vary. See SBA size guidance.
Application Deadline - Friday, January 19, 2024
Questions? Tricia.McLain@trade.gov
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U.S. cosmetics and personal care companies will have the opportunity to participate in-person at the annual Pro Beauty Expo in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Check back here soon for more details!
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South Africa has significant demand for quality brand-name products and is a regional hub where South African companies often have reach beyond the local market into other African countries. Thus, achieving success in the South African marketplace may provide a springboard for U.S. firms to sell into other countries across the sub-continent.
The $4.17 billion South African beauty and personal care market is expected to grow annually by 3.79 percent. With demographic shifts and more young people entering the consumer market, coupled with the rise of social media, eCommerce platforms, and greater international influences, the SA beauty and personal care market is projected to reach $5.03 billion by 2028. Additionally, a May 2023 survey completed by Statista highlights the top two purchase criteria considered by SA consumers for body care and Cosmetics products are quality and brand. Assuming U.S. companies can navigate the market barriers, the demand for U.S. Cosmetics and personal care products is high.
SA serves as a regional export hub providing access to additional countries for established companies. SA accounts for 21.8% of total intra-African trade (imports and exports). Over 2021-2022, 59.9% of SA exports to Africa were manufactured products (compared to 32.7% in its global export basket). The Southern African Development Community (SADC), including key markets such as Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Zambia, accounts for more than 83% / 89%* of SA’s total exports to Africa (*depending on whether SADC members Angola and DRC, that are not yet participating in the free trade area, are included). With such strong regional ties and a sizeable domestic market demand, the SA presents a challenging but strong opportunity for U.S. cosmetics and personal care companies.
Data indicates that the U.S. beauty industry is worth more than $60 billion. Relatedly, Black Americans spent $6.6 billion or 11% of the total U.S. beauty market. Critically, Black brands comprise only 2.5 percent of revenue in the beauty industry. In addition to realizing a disproportionately lower level of revenue, they also face challenges related to access to capital and access to markets. Consequently, there is significant asymmetry between the market share enjoyed by Black beauty firms and the share of the consumer market.
The Major types of products that the South African Cosmetics and Personal Care market import are Perfumes and Fragrances (17%), Hair Care (15%), Skin Care (13%) and Oral Hygiene (8%). This matches up well with the most popular types of Cosmetic and Personal Care products the U.S. looks to export which are Essential Oils (includes perfumes), Hair Care, Skin Care and Oral Hygiene. Additionally, diaspora-owned U.S. companies bring an awareness of African markets and local environments that gives the U.S. a competitive edge.
Want to know more? Read a recent report on South Africa Organic Cosmetics
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Africa and Middle East Cosmetics Resource Guide
HS2 Code 33: Essential Oils, Perfumery, and Cosmetics
This resource guide provides information about the economies and trade in cosmetics for countries in Africa and the Middle East (in alphabetical order). There are 47 countries included in this guide. Each country’s profile includes a graph which shows how much the U.S. exported in cosmetics to each country from 2018 to 2023. The data is from the U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Administration Trade Stats Express database using the harmonized classification code (HS2) 33 which includes essential oils, perfumery, and cosmetics; cosmetics in specific uses HS code 33.04. Data on each country’s total cosmetics imports is from the United Nations Comtrade database, data on GDP (gross domestic product) and GNI (gross national income) per capita is from the world bank.
