Asia is the world’s biggest consumer of beauty products, taking up 37% of total value of the industry. Not only do consumers buy international brands but there are many local, homegrown brands some of whom are now well-known in the west as well. K-beauty and J-Beauty have been making a splash for a while.
This post is to help navigate the extensive expos and trade fairs that happen annually in Asia. Whether you are a brand sourcing suppliers, wanting to exhibit or you are just coming to have a look at the competition this is a comprehensive overview of this year’s Asia beauty expos and trade fairs. I have also added some Australian shows for those interested in that market.
Beauty Expo and Trade fairs 2019 by date
I have listed these events in chronological order:
Cosme Tokyo, Japan 30th Jan – 1st Feb
COSME Tokyo and sister event Cosme Tech has just happened in Tokyo. It is a full service trade show from sourcing venue for cosmetics manufacturers, covering ingredients, private label/OEM, packaging and all other products/services for Cosmetics R&D, testing services as well as finished products. Good for brands to source OEM, packaging and other products development services in Asia.
This year Natural and Organic products continued to be popular, also microbiome/probiotic skin care was quite evident with Asian brands. This show is becoming more international. This is a good article with reviews of interesting natural brands from the Expo.
LOHAS Expo, Hong Kong 22- 24th Feb
Trade exhibition of Natural, Organic & Green Living Products. LOHAS Expo covers three scope of area: LOHAS Healthcare, LOHAS Lifestyle and Sustainable Economy. Not focused on Beauty.
PCHI, Guangzhou, China 26.02 – 28.02 2019
PCHi trade show is China’s dedicated trade event for ingredient suppliers to engage manufacturers of cosmetics, personal care and home care goods to meet their growing production demands. Good for brands to discover and meet ingredient suppliers.
Beauty Asia, Singapore 25th – 27th Feb
This is Singapore’s only beauty trade exhibition. In 2018 there were 124 international exhibiting companies from 15 different countries. There is a dedicated Natural beauty section. Good for brands to showcase products and find distribution in the region.
BEAUTY EXPO, Melbourne 23rd – 24th March
Melbourne’s Boutique Professional Beauty Show. Beauty Expo Melbourne showcases Makeup, Nail Products, Skincare, Beauty Technology, Tanning Products, Hair Colour Products. Good for local business owners to keep their eye in with trends in the local industry.
China Interactive Beauty week, China, 22nd – 24th April
China International Beauty Week features a display of beauty and skin care products, spa and slimming to lose weight, TCM health and health products, personal care products, medical cosmetology and plastic surgery, hair products, and more.
ASEAN Beauty, Thailand 2nd – 4th May
International Beauty Trade Show for Southeast Asia, medium-sized with around 250 exhibitors. Cross section of exhibitors from brands to OEM, raw ingredients. 36% of exhibitors are international. Good for brands wanting to expand in SE Asia.
Cosmo Beauty, Korea 9th – 11th May
This is a long time show that has been established for over 30 years. There are around 500 booths. Focused on Korean brands with a natural and organic product section.
Beauty World, Japan 13th – 15th May
This show is mainly to showcase Japanese Beauty brands. It is a Medium sized show with 600 exhibitors with the vast majority from Japan. Overseas buyers attend this show mainly from mainly from China, Korea, Taiwan.
China Beauty Expo, 20 – 22nd May
China Beauty Expo helps to connect international cosmetic suppliers across each segment of the industry. CBE provides a unique branding and trading platform for international companies that are building a foothold in China. This is a big expo with over 3.5k exhibitors, visitors are from around the world with the majority from Asia 76%. Good if you are serious about the China market to go and visit first before exhibiting.
Healthyplex & Nutraceutical, China, 19th – 21st June
Healthplex & Nutraceutical China is Asia’s largest sourcing platform for Health Food, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beauty Products, Health Care and other related third party services. Large expo with over 1800 exhibitors. Not dedicated to beauty.
IN-COSMETICS Korea, 26th – 28th June
250 exhibitors of ingredients, fragrances, lab equipment, testing and regulatory solutions, as well as over 7,000 cosmetic manufacturers from Korea and overseas.
COSMOBEAUTE, Malaysia, 15th – 18th July
International Exhibition & Conference on Cosmetics, Beauty & Spa. Cosmobeauty attracts manufacturers, exporters, distributors, Agents & Suppliers: Perfumery, Cosmetics, Personal Hygiene, Natural Health Products, Health Food & Beverages, dietary supplements. Medium sized with 268 exhibitors from 13 countries.
Natural Organic Trade Fair, Korea 1st – 3rd August
Organic & Natural Trade Fair dedicated to Natural & organic with numerous seminars but last year there were not many beauty companies there.
NOPA – Natural and Organic Product Expo, Hong Kong 3-5th August
Dedicated Natural and Organic expo. Combines beauty and food. Brands mainly looking for distribution but not many quality distributors looking who are able to offer brands solid distribution opportunities. I think this is indicative of the immaturity of the Natural beauty market here in Hong Kong so I foresee this expo becoming more useful as things develop here.
BEAUTY EXPO, Sydney 24th – 25th August
Sydney’s Boutique Professional Beauty Show. Beauty Expo Melbourne showcases Makeup, Nail Products, Skincare, Beauty Technology, Tanning Products, Hair Colour Products. Good for local business owners to keep their eye in with trends in the local industry.
BEYOND BEAUTY ASEAN, Thailand 19th – 21st September
Trade show for the cosmetics & perfumery industries. BEYOND BEAUTY ASEAN is a trade show for beauty professionals around 4 key segments (Beauty & Cosmetics, Spa & Well- being, Herbal & Health, Hair & Nail). There are three sections Finished products, supply chain and a dedicated made in Thailand section to showcase local brands.
InterCharm Beauty Expo, Korea 20 – 22nd September
This is a showcase of K-Beauty with some international brands who are interested in the Korean market. Medium sized with 350 exhibitors with 32 from outside of Korea. 54% of the visitors are from Asia, with the rest from all over the world. I just came back from this year’s addition. It was great to meet a lot of Korean brands. It is really varied in terms of scope – lots of brands as well as manufacturers and some raw material suppliers. This is not the place to show care yourself as a foreign brand but it is good to have a look at the trends in the Korean market.
This is in conjunction with Innocos conference which is held in USA, Europe and now this year for the second time in Korea.
Beauty Expo, Malaysia 4th – 7th October
It is supported by Cosmoprof Asia and is the longest running show in South East Asia. It is linked to ASEAN Beauty in Bangkok as well. They have a new Natural & Health Zone.
K-Beauty Expo, Korea 10th – 13th October
K-Beauty Expo is an all-encompassing event covering beauty industry engagements at one place. It covers raw materials, packaging as well as finished products. Large show with over 750 exhibitors. Buyers from all over the world – key retailers attend – Sasa, Lotte, Olive Young, Amazon etc.
COSMOBEAUTE, Indonesia 17th – 19th Oct
International Exhibition & Conference on Cosmetics, Beauty & Spa. Cosmobeauty attracts manufacturers, exporters, distributors, Agents & Suppliers: Perfumery, Cosmetics, Personal Hygiene, Natural Health Products, Health Food & Beverages, dietary supplements. Medium sized with 320 exhibitors from 13 countries.
INCOSMETICS, Bangkok 5th – 7th Nov
500 international suppliers of ingredients, fragrances, lab equipment, testing and regulatory solutions with over 11,300 Asia Pacific personal care creators
COSMOPROF Asia, Hong Kong 13th – 15th Nov
I did a full review of Cosmoprof last year see it here. This is the most establish global fair attracting key buyers, distributors from around the world. It is huge with over 3000k exhibitors across both shows. There is a packaging and raw ingredients fair and also a finished goods fair. They have a dedicated Natural products section which was a decent size and they were heavily promoting it. There are a series of interesting talks and seminars to attend as well. If you are a brands wanting to crack into Asia this is probably the best fair to do but the competition is stiff so make sure you can stand out from the crowd. This year due to the political instability in Hong Kong some exhibitors have decided to cancel and I am sure there will be less buyers attending.
Conclusion – what is my advice?
This has turned out to be a mamouth post – there are a lot of different Asia Beauty Expo and Trade Fairs and it really depends on what you are looking for which one is right for you. Many of them are linked like Cosmoprof in Hong Kong, PCHI in China, Beauty Expo in South East Asia.
I am planning to attend: China Beauty Expo in May, NOPA in Hong Kong in August, Intercharm Beauty Expo in Korea in September and possibly Beauty expo in Malaysia & Cosmobeaute in Jakarta as well as Cosmoprof in HK.
I would really recommend brands selecting a few of the key shows to attend before deciding to exhibit.
Especially in the Clean and Natural space although many of the expos have dedicated sections and they are trying to promote this area the retail market still hasn’t caught up so if you outlay the money for the show you may not be flooded with offers from distributors and retailers straight away.
