Asian Beauty

How South Korea’s leading beauty company AmorePacific plans to stay on top.

The South Korean cosmet-ics industry, better known as K-beauty, has become an Asian powerhouse and global phenomenon for its rigorous multi-step skincare regimens. This is not just consumerism gone mad, but a part of the Korean culture. South Korea is home to one of the world’s top 10-beauty industries, worth in excess of $10 billion, according to market research firm Mintel. AmorePacific Corp. is one of the players that has allowed KBeauty to go global.

AmorePacific is the largest beauty company in South Korea. Founded back in 1945, the company controls 30% of the beauty market share nationwide with a total of 28 beauty brands, among them Sulwhasoo, Laneige, Innisfree, and Etude House. Last year, AmorePacific booked revenues of 6.07 trillion ($5.3 billion), although it saw a decrease in net profits from $350 million in 2017 to $307 million in 2018 as a result of fierce competition mainly from global luxury players and a plunge in the number of Chinese tourists visiting South Korea (Chinese tourists are one of its key sources of revenue).

The overall popularity of Korean makeup has led AmorePacific to expand its business globally. Entering the Indonesian market in 2013, AmorePacific has become one of the top-five beauty companies in the country with sales growth of up to 55% last year, surpassing the national growth in the sector, which was 20%. “To grow more, this year, we are planning to expand our brand portfolios and increase distribution channels in Indonesia,” says Eunsan Jeong, director of AmorePacific Indonesia.