Clarins and Kibio forge naturals partnership
to produce natural and organic skin care ranges, capitalising on
the huge market growth for this type of product.
The deal will see Clarins making an initial investment of €3m in Kibio, which, under the terms of the agreement, is set to increase to 60 per cent in 2008.
"We are aiming to gradually increase our partnership and collaboration, with the ultimate goal of becoming one of the leading players in the world of organic and natural skin care products," Pierre Cabane, co-founder and director of Kibio, told CosmeticsDesign.
The move should help Kibio to take its next steps towards becoming a more dominant player in what is one of the fastest growing categories in the cosmetics industries - products formulated solely or mainly from organic and natural ingredients.
Kibio says that partnership should allow it to tap into three core areas of the highly developed Clarins business - research and development, logistics and production.
Kibio has established itself using mainly direct sales methods and the internet, but with Clarins' products available in over 150 countries, the agreement should enable Kibio to tap into a long-established and extensive distribution network.
Currently that naturals cosmetic market is set to hit the €1bn mark in Europe this year and is following similar patterns in the US market, as consumers seek out products with ingredients they perceive to be healthier and more environmentally friendly in nature.
The increase in spend means that the European market is growing by an average of 20 per cent a year, according to market researcher Organic Monitor, significantly above that of most other cosmetics categories where activity has remained largely stagnant in recent years.
Kibio is based in Aix en Provence, South of France, and was established by Cabane and business partner Laurent Potier back in 2005.
Currently it markets three categories of product under the Kibio Gesture brand, which includes a cleansing range, a moisturising range and an anti-ageing range.
It says that all of the ingredients it uses in its formulations are exclusively natural, with a high percentage of the total 100 ingredients it uses being organic and all of its products having Ecocert/Cosmebio certification.
