P&G acquires New Zealand skin care name Snowberry

Marking its second acquisition in the last three months, Snowberry forms part of P&G’s natural and innovative brand portfolio that aims to reflect the evolving demands of today’s beauty buyers.

Natural innovation​

Sitting alongside household names including Olay and SK-II, the New Zealand-based company will now reach out to an international audience.

Founded in 2007 by Cosmetician Soraya Hendesi, the brand’s products have been sold primarily in New Zealand, China and the US to date.

While Hendesi will continue to operate Snowberry with its current team from New Zealand, P&G's acquisition will provide it with a healthy injection of capital to enable it to expand upon its marketing capabilities.

Snowberry also owns a plantation known as the Snowberry Gardens, which provides significant opportunities as it grows and harvests a number of its key ingredients from this location.

Reassuring customers of its mainstay presence in New Zealand, Soraya Hendesi, Founder, Snowberry, stated: “Snowberry here in New Zealand is unchanged. We're the same team, doing the same things, only with access to some of the world's best skin science."​

In November 2017, P&G, which has an annual revenue of $65 bn, purchased startup personal care and natural deodorant provider, Native. This represented its first acquisition in eight years. This flurry of buys has been the result of P&G’s focus on brands that produce everyday products that are superior to other similar, competitive names, it has been suggested.

No terms of the deal have been officially disclosed. 

Why did Snowberry sell?​

On 6th February 2018, Snowberry’s founder, Soraya Hendesi, made the announcement direct on the brand's blog.

“Some of you will, quite naturally ask, why? It really is quite simple. Snowberry has invested in original science, and bio-discovery through our Snowberry Gardens for several years.”​

Openly sharing the “very expensive and very hard work”​ that goes into the original science and bio-discovery process required, Hendesi added candidly that the business has been “stretched by that effort for years!”.​ ​

By applying science to discover “world-first ways of making truly effective anti-ageing skin care”​, Snowberry’s core challenge has been communicating and showing this to its customers.  

Finding its place​

Sharing her views on Snowberry's position in the beauty space, Hendesi went on:"We've never believed that Snowberry was a comfortable fit in skin care - and that's because we don't pretend; we carry out exceptional clinical testing that few, if any other skin care brands do; and we strive to do everything as authentically as we can”.​

Preparing to get going on “some extraordinarily exciting new product plans”,​ Snowberry recognised that it needed help to achieve this.

Talking about Snowberry's partnership with P&G, Hendesi added: “Our discussions with the people at P&G have gone on for many months, and everything we have learned about that company, enormous though it is, is that the people are as committed to better skin care, as we! P&G can help Snowberry do better in ways we could only have dreamed about."​