Cebuano cosmetics brand gains national recognition

CEBU, Philippines - Cebuana-developed GT Cosmetics has further gained national attention, following the company’s recognition from a national television network ABS-CBN’s TV program “My Puhunan.”

GT Cosmetics founder Leonora B. Salvane is recognized as one of the model entrepreneurs in the Philippines, who made her small soap-making company a success, competing with other established and branded cosmetic products in the market.

Salvane’s story began with an answered prayer in 1994 in the northern town of Liloan, Cebu. With a P500 capital, Salvane began making bars of papaya and carrot soaps in her kitchen, using only baking pans for molds. Soap-making then became a family activity as her children joined her in the packaging of the finished products.

From a daily production output of 50 soaps with only four workers, GT Cosmetics now has two manufacturing plants in Cebu and Bulacan with a total of 334 people in their employ and produces 25,000 of each product line, including the bleaching soap, moisturizing and bleaching creams, sunblock, clarifying toner, and carrot lotion.

In the motivational “My Puhunan” program, Salvane also showed her philanthropic nature as she helps out an aspiring but held back family from Antipolo by providing them not just a substantial amount of capital but a complete package of tools and equipment as well, including the molds and ingredients, enough to get them by with soap-making business.

Salvane, who acknowledges the Almighty’s hand in all her endeavors by branding her skin-care products GT  or God’s Talent, said she was just doing the Lord’s work.

“There’s a reason for whatever’s happening to us,” Salvane said. “We’ve come this far in our business surely because of Divine Providence. Actually, she (beneficiary) didn’t have to thank me for that. I was just the instrument of the Lord’s blessing.”

Recently, GT Cosmetics Manufacturing announced the building of at least two additional manufacturing plants here and abroad.

"For 2013 we are looking forward to expanding our market abroad and in Mindanao," said Salvane in an interview.

The 18-year-old beauty product brand has now expanded its reach not just to other countries like Australia, Malaysia, Japan, USA, Finland and others.

An establishment of a plant in Malaysia is also now under negotiation, although still on the drawing board.

Despite the growing competition in the beauty and skin care industry, GT Cosmetics posted a record-breaking year in 2012 with sales growth hitting 175 percent, the highest ever in the company's sales history.

Salvane attributed the increase in sales to the growing number of satisfied GT users in the country and to the swelling number of retailing outlets and stores selling the GT product lines nationwide.

While the locally-manufactured GT Bleaching soap continues to strengthen its position as the most-preferred  whitening soap of choice in the market today as reported by Watsons 2012 annual magazine issue, the GT Carrot soap remains as the company's best-selling product of all time.

"Sales in Mindanao increased, proportionately -aligned with nationwide sales growth as more outlets have opened for us. Thus, we had to get the logistics services of Airlift Asia to help us in the distribution of our products," she said.

Last year, the company opened a P13-million manufacturing plant in Marilao, Bulacan to be able to cater to the increasing demand of its proudly Philippine-made beauty products both locally and internationally. /JMD (FREEMAN)