이 기사는 2022년 01월 26일 08:03 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

South Korea’s cosmetics original development manufacturer (ODM) Cosmax has established a research institute dedicated to develop base makeup products for Asian skin tone jointly with Thailand’s leading cosmetics firm Mistine.

Cosmax established the Asia Base Makeup research center in Shanghai, China, with Mistine in late 2021, according to industry sources on Friday. Mistine is one of the big three cosmetics firms in Thailand, alongside Karmart and SSUP.

The establishment of the research center is part of Mistine China’s long-term business strategy set in 2018. Mistine, which has been putting effort into the Chinese market, has consistently emphasized the necessity of developing foundations that suit Asian skin tone.

Mistine China is the fifth largest cosmetics brand in China. The company has believed it has to develop technology in partnership with a Korean cosmetics firm with excellent technology to differentiate itself in the local market.

While Mistine led the establishment of the research institute, Cosmax decided to support the research capabilities it has accumulated for years. This is the first time that Cosmax has established a research institute through collaboration.

The relationship between Cosmax and Mistine started in 2016 when the Thai cosmetics firm had a meeting with Cosmax at a beauty expo held in 2016 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Since then, Cosmax has offered and supplied locally customized products to clients by understanding trends in the Southeast Asian cosmetics market. Back then, the size of the 10 ASEAN cosmetics markets was close to 10 trillion won ($8.34 billion), with Thailand being the third largest with about 2 trillion won.

Securing Mistine as its client, Cosmax established Cosmax Thailand in June 2017 and began to secure new export engines through the Southeast Asian market in addition to existing European and American markets. Cosmax has also diversified its client base to inlcude Karmart, Thailand’s second largest cosmetics company.

“The research institute was promoted together with the Chinese subsidiary of Mistine, the largest client of Cosmax Thailand,” said an official at Cosmax. (Reporting by Nu-ri Moon)