The (youthful) energy behind the beauty industry
Unipro and the sector’s good prospects: turnover touching 9 billion euros (+4.4%) despite the recession and an acknowledgement of the keen entrepreneurship of the younger generations.
The 44th Meeting of the Association of Italian cosmetic companies featured the celebration of the young and up-and-coming, obviously besides celebrating the good results of a sector that appears to have a crisis immune DNA.
Hosted this year in the spaces of the Milan Trienniale, during the traditional meeting promoted by Unipro, the association President Fabio Rossello first of all read off the figures for 2011, demonstrating the good state of health of the sector, whose upward trend stands in stark contrast with other Italian manufacturing sectors: turnover is up 4.4% to a value close to 9 billion, with a domestic market showing 2% growth and topping 9.8 billions, this despite the diversity of channels that comprise the same.
The July economic bulletin will reveal the response to the market stress experienced in the early months of the year. In support of this declaration, the 2012 edition of the Beauty Report - the third annual report on the value of the cosmetics industry in Italy - was distributed during the assembly. Offering a profile of sector peculiarities, exports and domestic consumption, drawn up by Ermeneia, the Report focuses attention on some fundamental sector characteristics like the non cyclical nature of the sector, unaffected by prevailing downturns, and its continuing propensity to growth, this via product innovation and service.
A conference that looks beyond
As mentioned above, Unipro held a moment of reflection on the theme "Young entrepreneurs and young companies: the contribution of the cosmetics industry to the recovery”.
Andrea Colli, professor of economic history and business at the Luigi Bocconi Commercial University, Milan, reasoned on three cases related to the sector and falling under the "youth category" both because of the age of the protagonists and due to the recent establishment of their enterprise: Ancorotti Cosmetics, O-PAC and Ruven Cosmetics. Federico Grom, founder along with his friend Guido Martinetti's of the eponymous ice cream chain, offered the "Grom case study", providing a testimony looking beyond the cosmetics world. An interesting study came from Gian Andrea Positano, head of Unipro research center, who cited the recent survey of companies set up after 1990.
The study in fact confirmed the vitality of an entrepreneurial fabric that recognizes in the new generations the enthusiasm, the passion and the service quality that animated the founders of Italian cosmetics. More than 29% of member companies are less than twenty years old: these cosmetic teen companies underscorethe competitiveness and ability, in Italy and abroad, to invest in innovation that characterizes the entire industry. In short, for Unipro the phrase ‘make way for the young’ is not mere rhetoric, but the confirmation of a dynamic view of a segment that shows startling growth. The synergy with the exhibition BolognaFiere, enabling the planning the project of Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna 2013 several months in advance, confirms the interest in a broader and more extensive cosmetics chain, exclusive and successful example of an Italian productive sector that has everything going for it.
