Business Initiation: New Opportunities for German Cosmetics and Detergent Companies in Japan.
Japan is known as one of the top five personal care and beauty products markets in the world, showing a steady growth since years. In addition, with a growth spurt in 2016, the detergent and home care industry is also said to be one of Japan's most promising business areas. The Japanese market not only offers great potential itself, it is also possible to gain easier access to other Asia-Pacific markets from here. On the other hand, Germany has the largest market for beauty care products in Europe. A number of German cosmetics and toiletries products have already been successful on the Japanese market, benefiting from the good reputation of the "Made in Germany" brand, which is associated with out-standing product quality in Japan. Against this background, the first business initiation trip to Japan with a focus on cosmetics/care products and detergents took place on November 6 - 10, as part of a market development program by the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) for German SMEs.
On the first day of the delegation visit, the AHK Japan organized a Japan briefing in their Tokyo office for the eleven participating SMEs* from Germany (*ten cosmetic companies and one detergent manufacturer). Representatives from the AHK Japan, the German Embassy in Tokyo and the BMWi provided an overview of Japan’s current economic and political situation, as well as an introduction about the market development program. In addition, two experts with an extensive professional background in the Japanese cosmetics sector explained some of the distinctive features of the Japanese cosmetics market. The briefing thus provided an opportunity for the participants to get to know each other, and to gain general knowledge about the country as well as receive first-hand information on the cosmetics market Japan.
On the following day, November 7, the AHK Japan held a symposium with the title "Cosmetics and Toiletries in Japan: Latest Trends and New Products from Germany". After the opening remarks from the AHK Japan, the German Embassy in Tokyo and the BMWi, the German Industry Association for Body Care and Detergents (IKW) started off with a presentation, providing a comprehensive overview of the German cosmetics market for the Japanese company representatives in attendance. Afterwards, the German delegation members introduced their companies and products in 15-minute sessions each, and were able to keep the attention of the nearly sixty symposium attendees with their engaging presentations until the end of the day. In addition, they also displayed some of their products at the venue, which caused great interest among the attendees. Japanese experts from the Cosmetic Importers Association of Japan (CIAJ) and the Japanese Organic Cosmetics Association (JOCA), who had been actively supporting the symposium beforehand by promoting it to their members, rounded off the event with additional information on the Japanese cosmetics market in general, and the growing organic and natural cosmetics markets in particular. Shorter und longer breaks, as well as a networking event after the symposium provided further opportunities for the Japanese and German attendees to exchange opinions and ideas.
During the next two days, the German companies attended individual B2B-meetings with Japanese importers and distributors in order to talk about possible collaborations. In order to arrange for those meetings, the AHK Japan had been in close contact with the participants prior to their visit to Japan, to be able to identify potential partners and provide suitable business matchings for the companies.
For the last day of the delegation visit, the AHK Japan organized a guided tour and visits to a number of new cosmetics shops in Ginza with an interesting marketing concept that had just opened this year. The store checks once again demonstrated that Japanese consumers are highly sophisticated in terms of costumer services and the selection of products for their daily needs.
Finally, the participants gathered again at the AHK Japan for a concluding discussion, where they were able to exchange opinions and ideas for future delegation visits.