The cosmetics manufacturer is joining forces with US-based Nerium International, a skin care firm, with the partnership intended to increase both companies’ R&D capacity both in Korea and in North America, and ultimately widen Cosmax's product and ingredients development for the global market.
According to the Korea Herald, both companies hope that the results of the collaboration will eventually be distributed across Japan, Hong Kong and Australia too.
Leading in US R&D
Cosmax operates as an original design manufacturer (ODM), meaning beauty companies commission it to develop and produce their products, which they then retail under their own labels.
ODM services are increasingly on the rise as firms take to outsourcing manufacture and production to cut costs, and Cosmax has taken various steps in recent months to position itself as a global leader.
Nowhere is this more true than in North America, where Cosmax has been investing heavily in its facilities, including a 30 billion won (USD 26 million) upgrade of its Ohio site, and the opening of a new research hub in New Jersey.
“Homegrown American ODMs are usually small, labor intensive companies dedicated to one or two products. They are behind us in portfolio-wide R&D and quality assurance,” Sok-min Yu, head of Cosmax USA, has explained of the company’s market edge.
“We propose 20 to 30 new products to customers while rival companies visit them with one or two new products.”
Stronger in US, stronger globally
Cosmax has made clear that its efforts in North America, including the new partnership with Nerium International, are being made in order to bolster its wider global strategy.
The company has spoken of its intention to broaden its reach within Asia, as well as Europe and Latin America, and has hinted at growth beyond these too.
“We have a plan to enter other markets next year,” Yu said earlier this year, noting that Cosmax is “determined to become the largest contract cosmetics manufacturer in the world by 2017.”