‘Big opportunities in Europe’: Japan’s Meeth advances global expansion plans with Spain debut
Speaking exclusively to CosmeticsDesign-Asia, regional director Adrian Roche revealed that the brand would make its debut in Spain in mid-October. Up till now, Meeth has been expanding across Asia, in markets including Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan.
According to Roche, the brand has been growing rapidly since its was introduced in 2019, thanks in no small part to its CEO, the Japanese model and celebrity Sonmi.
The brand will concentrate on building the brand in Barcelona, which Roche described as the “second-most interesting place to have a skin care brand”.
He elaborated: “Paris is the capital of cosmetics, but its almost impossible to compete unless you have very, very, very deep pockets. Barcelona is where all the small brands are – the grassroots entrepreneurs.”
Roche believes there are “big opportunities” in Europe, where there are gaps the brand can fill.
“We know the brand works in Asia. We work well from Japan to Singapore, so by extension, we can do well in every Asian country. In Europe, all they know about Asian beauty is Shiseido and SK-II. When you introduce another brand from Japan, you can get a lot of traction.”
Roche elaborated that the brand offers novel products for the Spanish market such as the Morerich Pack. The brand’s bestselling mask is a carbonated gel that is patented by Kobe University that claims to soothe, hydrate and cleanse the skin.
Furthermore, Meeth’s products tend to be very hydrating, making it very suitable the climate of Spain, where it the air can be very hot and dry.
Aside from the quality and efficacy of the products, Roche said that Sonmi’s is the brand’s biggest point of difference.
“The level of innovation and [Sonmi’s] passionate way of doing things; she is passionate about being the best possible, involving the customers all the time to develop new products.”
The brand will start by launching its official website for the Spanish market. It is also actively exploring the possibility of expanding the brand into physical retail as well and is targeting beauty boutiques and salons.
A whole new look
In conjunction with its entry into Europe, the firm is also working on rolling out a new look and feel for its websites.
“Right now, all our websites are different. It’s something we allowed to happen because of the way the brand needed to grow, but we are now at a point where we need a level of consistency and discipline across all markets.”
In the meantime, the company will continue to build its business in Asia. “We have awareness, we have a base, and we have to consolidate that and continue to develop the brand. For example, in Singapore, we appreciate the support we’ve gotten so far. We want to turn profitable in Singapore within the next year,” said Roche.