‘The next stage’: Singapore’s cosmeceutical outfit Aspurely aims for U$5.9m revenues on back of international expansion

Aspurely was previously known as Recherché, a cosmeceutical beauty brand founded in 2018. The company recently embarked on a rebrand as part of its plans to venture into the international market.

“The next stage of our business is to go global,”​ said the brand founder and head of research and development, Coreenna Ong.

As Recherché, the company has been shipping internationally to a global consumer base including people in the Middle East and African regions.

“These customers have been with us since the Recherché days, so we decided to survey them. We found out that even though our products were catered to the [Singapore] climate, customers from the drier countries really like our product because they are much lighter than the ones they are used to. You can say, it was a refreshing change that allowed their skin to breath,” ​said Ong.

She added that the company can tap into demand clean beauty globally, which has accelerated following the COVID-19 outbreak. “People are getting more savvy. They are reading the ingredients list, doing their research on the Internet to check out ingredients.”​

The company is already in talks with partners in Vietnam, China, and Hong Kong.

“We are looking to expand into these markets in the next few months and eventually we will be going for the US and UK. We hope that we can get into all these countries by the end of this year.”​

In addition to the rebrand, the company also has a new distribution strategy targeting medical channels in addition to its online direct-to-consumer model.

The company has already begun distribution at two prominent maternity hospitals in Singapore, Mount Alvernia and Thomson Medical, and is about to begin distribution at a chain of aesthetic clinics.

Over the years, the brand has attracted pregnant women and nursing mothers, as well as people who have undergone aesthetic procedures like lasers, Botox and fillers.

“It wasn’t really deliberate [to target these consumers] With the ingredients we use and the research that goes into our products, we happened to adopt these consumers along the way as our products are less likely to cause reactions to their sensitive skin,”​ said Ong.

She told CosmeticsDesign-Asia​ that the company hopes to leverage on its local contacts in the medical industry to ink deals overseas. Entering a new market through the medical channel would also boost the brand’s credentials.

Aspurely will also be launching a new skin care range targeting acne in the middle of this year.

“This new range will consist of two products and is holistic in its approach to treating acne. It can balance out the skin microbiome, it doesn’t just kill bacteria and stop oil production. It helps to treat acne in a very comprehensive way without that harsh approach to acne we used to use back in the day,” ​explained Ong.

With the expansion into new markets, a new distribution strategy, and new products hitting the shelves soon, Aspurely is projecting growth of around 35% with targets of S$8m (U$5.9m) this year.

The company is optimistic about its forecast, considering it managed to navigate the pandemic-stricken market well over the past couple of years.