Cosmetics firm invests P30M for plant upgrade

CEBU, Philippines - Skin care product maker, GT Cosmetics Manufacturing is allocating P30 million for the expansion of its plant in Lilo-an, Cebu.

Bracing for the ASEAN integration, the cosmetics company steps up its level of competitiveness.

In a press conference, GT Cosmetics founder and chief executive officer Leonora B. Salvane said that aside from making sure that the GT products get required quality certifications in important markets abroad like the Food and Drug Administraion seal from the United States, and Halal certification in muslim countries, the company is also investing on its manufacturing plant to anticipate the strong demand specifically from the over 600 million consumers in the ASEAN bloc.

The company will spend this year at least P30 million for the new manufacturing plant to double the current production capacity of making 40 thousand products, across the company's product lines.

At present, GT has nine product lines available in the market, including its newly developed and launched facial scrub that is carefully formulated to compete with well known international brands, while using natural raw materials that can richly be found in the country.

Last year, the company spent over 20 million pesos to set up its manufacturing plant in Manila, to serve the growing demand in the National Capital Region.

According to Salvana, part of the company's preparation to face the international competition head-on is to get an ISO certification.

Now on its 20th year, the Cebuano chemical engineer is one of the successful entrepreneurs who managed to penetrate the cutthroat competition in the beauty business, with marketplace overly flooded with products and brands that promise instant results.

Despite this, GT generates an average gross revenue of P25 million a month, bulk of the market penetration is from Visayas and Mindanao, with growing "satisfied" users in Luzon, as well as other countries like Japan, Korea, China, Finland, Australia, Canada and the United States.

Moreover, Salvane said the decision to bravely conquer the global market starting with the ASEAN member countries, is also fueled by the invitation of SM-owned wellness retail chain Watsons to get ready in expanding with them in the ASEAN territory.

Watsons is GT's high performing retail partner in the country, Salvane said. Now, Watsons is also the company's gateway to enter the global market in full blast. (FREEMAN)