Psalmstre posts 15% growth in 2011

CEBU, Philippines - The active market for whitening product in the Philippines, has sustained the growth of natural-based beauty and skin care products maker Psalmstre Enterprises.

Despite the entry of more whitening products in the market, both manufactured locally and overseas, Psalmstre Enteprises president and chief executive officer (CEO) Jaime Acosta said the company posted a healthy 15 percent growth last year.

While the demand for anti-aging product is catching up, the Philippine market is still pre-dominantly active in terms of purchasing whitening skin care products.

However, he said as the competition becomes stiffer now, considering the growing range of options for customers, Acosta said stronger brands like Psalmstre’s products still get considerable customers’ preference after 12 years in the market.

Because of the growing demand for effective, yet non-harmful whitening products in the country, Acosta said the company has added another product variant to make use of papaya and the popular glutathione as main ingredient to its whitening soap branded as Glutamin.

Its flagship product the New Placenta Soap, which has justified ingredient of animal placenta extract is enhanced in terms of efficacy to meet the growing demand for anti-aging requirements.

In a report released by the Euromonitor International, it indicated that the skin care market in the Philippines is seen to grow by US$915.4 million in the next four years.

Euromonitor, which is a research firm for consumer markets, further added that nourishers or anti-aging products recorded the most vibrant performance in 2010 fueled by an influx of affordable brands which attract the middle-income customer based.

The anti-aging market segment alone in the Philippines is projected to grow by US$105.8 million by 2015.

According to the report, unlike in the western countries where many aging women are extremely concerned about developing wrinkles, particularly “crow’s feet”—which appear around the corners of one’s eyes, Filipinas are more concerned about developing age spots, more than wrinkles.

Base on the survey, the Philippine consumer nowadays are becoming more discerning in terms of skin care, thus manufacturers are challenged to continue to upgrade their product lines by introducing much more effective products which make use of the new advances in skin care technology.

Unlike before, the survey further indicated that Philippine consumers also became more conscious about the brand of skin care product they are using. 

“Consumers mostly rely on the availability of information online and pay more attention to product labeling and information detailing—the technology used in the development of particular product,” the report said.

Because of the promising outlook for natural-based skin and beauty care product, Acosta said the company is intensifying its move to penetrate other provinces in the Philippines, by increasing its dealership and partnership deals.

One of the focus areas now being closely looked at by the company, include Palawan, Romblon, and huge part of Mindanao.

At present, Psalmstre Enterprises has over 40 distribution networks, that include major supermarket chains, and pharmacy outlets, excluding the small partner distributors.