Medterra Europe opened its Amsterdam office in February 2019 and already had a range of CBD (cannabidiol) products like tinctures and balms stocked across European pharmacies and certain stores. Renowned for its high-quality certified industrial hemp, containing zero THC and grown on its farm in Kentucky, the CBD specialist now planned to shift up a gear in the beauty and personal care space.
CBD beauty and skin care for psoriasis, eczema and acne
Koen Ridder, president of Medterra Europe, said the company was now primed to launch 10-15 SKUs of CBD beauty products across the region, starting with a cream for psoriasis and eczema and another for acne by May or June, this year.
“Beauty and skin care are the two categories we’re growing – we see a bright future there for CBD,” Ridder told CosmeticsDesign-Europe.
“…These [new product launches] will focus on Europe first, but of course if we see success, we’ll move them over to the US.”
Currently, Ridder said beauty and personal care represented just 30% of the company’s total portfolio, but that would change with its 2020 product launch plans.
Following the CBD cream launches, he said Medterra Europe would branch out further with face serums targeting things like regeneration and hydration – “those kind of areas”.
Research and science behind CBD beauty
Importantly, Ridder said Medterra was heavily focused on the research side of product development for the beauty and personal care space.
“I don’t want to give anything away about our new products, which are still in development stage, but we see a lot of antibacterial and anti-inflammatory results (…) We’re doing a lot of research around it and science shows there are potentially good effects there.”
Asked if beauty consumers were interested in the science behind a product, he said: “In beauty, people want products that work and there’s a big trend about having more all-natural products (…) The reason why it works might not be relevant to everybody, but being able to show there is science is a definite plus.”
This was particularly important for Medterra Europe entering a highly competitive beauty space, he said. “In the beauty and cosmetics space, people are always looking for something new besides trusting their brands. That’s why we do a lot of scientific research because we want to show that CBD has an advantage towards conventional creams or beauty products.”
Succeeding in the beauty space, he said, relied on “having a solid, proven line of skin care and cosmetics” and becoming the “trusted CBD brand” among consumers. Although consumers still needed “a lot of education around CBD”, he said.
CBD stores, pharmacies, retailers and e-commerce
Medterra Europe was currently working with several concept CBD stores across Europe, including Molecule in West London, but Ridder said the company hoped to strengthen presence in conventional retailers and traditional pharmacies in the coming months.
“We’re not just focusing on CBD concept stores; we’re focusing on nationwide retailers with these CBD beauty products.”
Asked how important e-commerce was for expansion, Ridder said: “E-commerce, of course, is a global trend, so it would be stupid to deny e-commerce as a big opportunity. But those nationwide retailers are currently important for us, to have a presence and give that education piece to the consumer.”
