The Australian brand was established over a year ago by Christina Su, a former pharmacist who saw a gap in the market for evidence-based natural skin care products.
“There have been a lot of natural skin care brands in the market but every time I looked into the ingredients, I didn’t think what I was seeing were evidence-based ingredients backed with clinical data,” said Su.
The line consists of five products which Su claimed only contains ingredients that she has personally researched. “I don't want to use an ingredient that has a nice sound to it. I want to be able to see the clinical papers and see what the studies say about that particular ingredient.”
Bayeco products contain two hero ingredients, one of which is green tea.
“Green tea may seem like a very common ingredient but if you look it up on PubMed, you will find thousands of clinical studies on green tea. It's simple but it has so much evidence to show that it works very well in protecting the skin, which makes it good as an anti-ageing ingredient and a good antioxidant in general,” said Su.
The second ingredient is derived from Kakadu plum, a fruit native to Australia. Kakadu plum is considered to be the richest source of vitamin C compared to other superfoods.
“There are many suppliers of Kakadu plum, but I wanted to find one that has evidence-based information on it, clinical data based on the way they have extracted it. The Kakadu plum we sources is backed by clinical data that shows it can improve skin whitening,” said Su.
Branching out into Asia
Since its launch in June 2018, the company has experienced significant growth. Su estimated that sales have doubled since the start and has continued to grow in 2019.
“This year we have grown quite significantly compared to last year. Our consumers have responded very well to our products and it shows in our return rate which is generally quite high,” she said.
Aside from its own website, Bayeco is also available in over 50 locations across Australia in health and beauty chains like Priceline. Su said the company plans to continue to strengthen the brand’s presence in its home market by targeting the offline channels
However, the firm also sees the brand’s potential in the international market due to the rising profile of A-beauty.
Overseas, it is currently available in New Zealand, Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong and the UK.
Su said the company will focus on Asia first as she believes it is a good proving ground for skin care brands before they expand into the Western markets.
“Around 60% of Asians have sensitive skin while in the west, its only 20%. So, when we underwent testing, 60% of our subjects were Asian. They are really fussy when it comes to skin care so I figured that if Asians like our products, our western consumers will like it too.”
Among all the Asian markets, the brand has experienced traction particularly in South Korea, where local influencers have spread the word of the brand through social media. The brand has since started a Korean Instagram account to connect with its consumers in Korea.
Hong Kong is another region Su hopes to focus on. She revealed that the decision to enter Hong Kong was made before the political turmoil began and affirmed that the company will still go ahead with its plans for the market.
However, she added that the firm will focus more on its online channels in Hong Kong for now.
While the complex Chinese market is not a main focus for the company now, it has dipped its toe into China via cross-border e-commerce platforms, such as Tmall and Taobao, to tap into the demand for Australian-made products.
“In general, Chinese consumers love Australian products. If you think about it, A-beauty has always been a thing in China.”
Moving forward, the company’s goals are the expand further westward, where the brand has generated some interest.
Su said: “We want to grow and strengthen the brand in Asia and hopefully word of the brand will spread into the west organically.”