Hanoi (VNA) – Japanese personalcare firms Takara Belmont, Menard, and Shiseido have found ways to get theirparts in the Vietnamese cosmetics market, whose value is expected to hit 2.35billion USD this year, according to the Dau Tu (Investment) newspaper.

The paper reported that in late January,Takara Belmont said it had acquired 97 percent of shares in Ngu A Chau, aleading producer of hair care products in Vietnam, for 900 million JPY (8.2million USD).

With the acquisition, Takara Belmont, whichentered Vietnam in 2013 by establishing a plant making dental equipment, hasmade the first step into the local beauty market.

Founded in 1921 and venturing into thehairdressing & beauty field 10 years later, Takara Belmon owns the Lebelbrand, which holds the second biggest share of Japan’s hair care market.

Ngu A Chau has a plant and a network ofover 200 distribution agencies for its KANAC and other brands of hair careproducts, which account for about 10 percent of local market share in thefield. It is also the first company in Vietnam meeting international standardsset for good manufacturing practice in 2011, meaning their products arequalified for export.

Following the merger, Takara Belmont saidit would maintain the Vietnamese partner’s name and brand, but appointed a newleader board to help apply Japanese technology in the production. 

President and CEO of Takara BelmontHidetaka Yoshikawa was quoted by the newspaper as saying that the company aimsat turning Ngu A Chau’s brands into the top ones not only in Vietnam but alsoin Southeast Asia.

Menard, and Shiseido, meanwhile, haveconsolidated their foothold in Vietnam after years of serving local customers.

After 14 years in Vietnam, Menard has 26cosmetics stores and spas in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Hai Phong, alongside anationwide distribution network.

Le Thanh Huong, director of Menard Vietnam,said revenue growth of her company far exceeds the annual growth rate of thelocal cosmetic market, making Vietnam an important market in Menard’sdevelopment strategy.

Menard owns two production plants in Japanserving domestic demand and exports to the Europe and Vietnam. About 99 percentof Menard products sold in Vietnam are made in Japan.

Shiseido, one of the world’s oldestcosmetics companies, established its Vietnamese branch nearly a decade ago todevelop a distribution system it had built in the country since 1997.

In 2012, Shiseido Vietnam ended itsdistribution contract with the Vietnamese company Thuy Loc. All of thecompany’s products now can only be purchased at Shiseido Vietnam’s officialstores and legal agents.

By opening a flagship store on adayroi.com,an e-commerce site run by VinGroup, the company is a pioneer of luxury brandsin Vietnam’s online market, which mostly attracts the participation of small-and medium-sized firms.-VNA