Freshly Cosmetics accelerates its international bet |Diari de Tarragona

If there is something that has been clear since its birth in February 2016, the company Reusense Freshly Cosmetics has been its intention to revolutionize the world of cosmetics.And in just five years, their products, natural and vegan, have captivated more than one million customers throughout Europe and even China, where since this summer they are present through global Tmall, the leading cross -border marketplace in China thatIt is part of Alibaba Group.

But their international expansion plans do not stop there and have just closed a series A investment round of almost 19 million euros with the British Blossom Capital Fund.A capital injection that they want to allocate to two things: underpin their international expansion and continue investing in R&D to create new products and containers even more respectful of the environment.In fact, all freshly cosmetics formulas contain more than 99% of natural ingredients, and none of their formulations or ingredients are tested in animals.Likewise, 95% of its containers are made of 100% recyclable aluminum and kraft, while already working with new materials, such as cardboard tubes that have implemented in some of its products, becoming one of the first companies toglobal level to introduce them."Our strategy is to continue innovating and that people who trust Freshly Cosmetics continue to perceive how different the cosmetic sector we see," says Mireia Trepat, co -founder.

One of the first samples of its acceleration in internationalization will be the opening of its first physical store outside our country, and will do so with the new Freshly Store London, next Friday, November 19.The establishment has a total area of 85 square meters that are distributed into two floors.This is the second opening of the company's store throughout this year, after the inauguration in Valencia, the last year, which adds to Barcelona stores, launched in 2019, and Madrid, in 2020.

Freshly Cosmetics started selling in China last summer through Tmall Global, the leading cross -border online marketplace that is part of Alibaba Group.It is a portal with more 800 million consumers and thousands of brands around the world that sell to China thanks to the Cross-Border service.

The sale in China is a logistics challenge for the company.Freshly Cosmetics sends the preselected items from the Gandesa Logistics Center to the Alibaba Cainiao warehouse, to the Chinese city of Ningbo.Ningbo are distributed throughout the Asian country.With the cross -border model of Tmall Global it is not necessary to register the cosmetic products in China or test them there.The sale is based on local market requests.

Before landing in the Chinese market, Freshly Cosmetics did a small market study.26 Chinese consumers, between 20 and 40 years old, tested ten of freshly products for a week.They also started a social media strategy to place the brand, as it has achieved in Europe.The company prescription with profiles to the most important networks of China: Little Red Book, Wechat, Douyin (Tiktok out of China) and Weibo.In addition, Chinese and international influencers have been taken into account.

The origin of Freshly Cosmetics is connected to the University Rovira I Virgili.With 23 years, Miquel Antolín and Mireia Trepat, who were studying chemical engineering, realized that they did not want to devote themselves to the chemical sector.They had been looking for a market niche in which to enter and develop their professional project.And its source of inspiration had it close: Mercè Civil, Miquel's mother, had been making natural soap pills at home for more than four years that did not market but gave family, friends and acquaintances in Batea.Following their steps, they investigated the market of natural cosmetics and realized that traditional cosmetics need a change.

This is how the company emerged, born in early 2016 and closed its first year with seven workers.Six years later, the company intends to reach this 202 billing that is around 55 million euros and 250 employees, among its five work centers: the central offices (Freshly Park) in Reus, the three freshly store in Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia and theGandesa logistics center that will be extended with two plots that add up to almost 14.000 square meters that were owned by Incasòl, in which they are investing 4 million euros and in which they plan to create up to 150 jobs.

It is a brand with digital DNA from its origins.They were born thanks a crowfunding campaign on the Kickstarter platform and until 2019, when they opened their first physical store in the city they sold exclusively through their online channel.

Comments

Read too