Ringier Events takes pride in the success of its second conference for the beauty and personal care industry in Thailand.

Southeast Asia has become an important market for personal care and beauty product brands that manufacturing of these products has reached an all-time high. The beauty and personal care market in the region is projected to exceed US$34.56 billion by 2027 – growing annually by at least 3.5%, according to Statista.  Southeast Asian countries are also becoming important production hubs for beauty and skincare products.  

In particular, Thailand is an attractive manufacturing center and is the first choice to enter the region’s vast market. The reduction of tariffs on many imported products has augured well for the country’s industrial sector. In addition, Thailand has a robust personal care manufacturing industry with cosmetics, beauty care, skincare, cosmeceuticals, spa products and personal care products packaging becoming major contributors to its growth. To date, Thailand has become the second largest cosmetics exporter in Southeast Asia and the 10th largest in the world. While 72% of Thai cosmetics are sold locally and 28% are exported to key markets such as ASEAN, Japan, Australia, South Korea and China – Thai manufacturers are eyeing bigger international markets and have embarked on capacity expansion creating huge demand for materials and technologies. 

The 2024 ASEAN Personal Care Technology Summit, held on June 11-12 in Bangkok marked another major gathering of Southeast Asian cosmetics brands, factories and raw material suppliers, as well as personal care packaging representatives. Organized by Ringier Events, the conference was participated by industry professionals interested in the updates from top-tier experts in beauty and personal care. The conference also provided networking opportunities where representatives from business partners offered their solutions to support the manufacturing operations of Thai-based personal care products and packaging companies.

The summit was supported by industry associations in Thailand – the Thai Cosmetic Cluster Trade Association (TCOS), Thai Spa Association (TSA) and the Thai Package Design Association (Thai PDA). International companies also served as business partners whose representatives were available to present their range of manufacturing solutions: DASE-SING Packaging Technology Company; Ever Polymer Co., Ltd (Everlon); Lexa-Mix Dispersion System; Spec-Chem Industry Inc.; Changzhou Huituo Technology Company; Guangdong Qiaolei Packaging Technology Co., Ltd; Guangzhou Barel Industrial Co., Ltd; GuangDong Harvest Plastic Products Co., Ltd; Global Green Material Co., Ltd; SYLNTA Co. Ltd; Guangdong Gaojieli technology Co., Ltd; and Yangzhou Joyvo Weikem Biology Co., Ltd.

Trends in the formulation and production of personal care products

The Summit provided the latest data on the formulation and production of personal care products including cosmetics, beauty care, and skincare, in line with the trends in the market today.

The Thai Cosmetic Cluster Trade Association (TCOS) was represented by its member, the Founder and Executive Chairman of Wis Marketing Group Company, Ms. Keerataya Lertthpatthakul, who discussed the cultural influences on personal care, including the traditional ingredients that are popular among the consumers in Indonesia, ethical practices in packaging and other prevailing conditions that demand specific types of cosmetics and other personal care products. 

The Director of Application R&D of Spec-Chem Industry Inc. provided a presentation on how to achieve clean beauty through the application of Green Bio-surfactant Glycolipids SpecBio® SL-Active that the company has developed. As a senior engineer, Ms. Alica Wang has been engaged in the research and development of personal care, home care and oral care, applied for patents and published more than 10 papers, and has deeply studied the mechanism of product action and compatibility mechanism to find out its application and advantages in personal care products formulation. 

The CEO, CTO & Co-founder of KronoLife Company and Senior Researcher at NANOTEC, NSTDA, Dr. Tawin Iempridee had an interesting presentation on reversing skin aging. He has extensive experience working with companies and institutions, providing efficacy and safety testing services (Molecular Beauty) that ensure the quality and effectiveness of active ingredients and products, and help them excel in product commercialization and marketing.  

Ms. Orachoon Boonyakiat, Managing Director of Embrio Ventures Company, a brand creator that prioritizes naturalness, sustainability, and efficacy in skincare presented the company's flagship brand, Skin Earth, an all-natural skincare line committed to delivering effective products at honest, affordable prices.

The Director of Make Scents, Ms. Suwanna Ratanastian, provided an interesting discussion on how scents have been affecting moods and well-being. Ms. Ratanastian represented the Thai Spa Association, where she is the Director of Education Committee Chair. Founded in 2000, Make Scents has developed the signature scents and products formulation for prestigious spas and wellness.  

Modernizing the production of personal care products

A number of presentations provided valuable tips on how to modernize the production process to achieve more efficient operations. The Foreign Trade Manager of Changzhou Huituo Technology Company, Ms. Anny Lyu, discussed the company’s filling and capping machines for personal care, home care, cosmetics and other applications. Since its founding in 2010, Huituo has focused on the design and manufacture of high-performance filling and capping machines for a wide range of product lines. Its customer-centric R&D, processing, manufacturing, marketing and sales system, has enabled it to help customers upgrade with its team of engineers always working to streamline machine designs, giving its customers a competitive edge.

Mr. Axel Wittek, Founder of Lexa-Mix, a pioneering company at the forefront of advanced mixing technology, shared his wealth of experience in the mixing process, and passion for innovation. His presentation focused on the advantages of the company’s cutting-edge vacuum mixers and how these can be used to full advantage by Thai personal care products manufacturers in their operations.  LEXA-MIX is specialized in the process analysis, engineering, design, manufacturing and installation of liquid preparation equipment, DI-Water storage and raw-material storage. With hundreds of installations worldwide. LEXA-MIX has been contributing to develop the most advanced processes partnering with major cosmetic companies around the world.

The Vice President of TCOS and Chief Executive Officer of M.Y.R., Mr. Kris Jangjarat, talked about the trends in cosmetic OEM manufacturing. M.Y.R. is a cosmetic factory with innovative Thai natural extracts and it has made more than 4,000 brands since 2008.Mr. Jangjarat tackled the trends in OEM manufacturing, including the prerequisites to achieve highly competitive production operations. 

Optimizing packaging solutions for sustainability

Packaging design and materials remain key especially for personal care products. The Summit brought together experts in the field of packaging to present the trends and provide tips to personal care manufacturers on how they can achieve circularity through innovative processing technologies and materials.

DASE-SING Packaging Technology Company has been supporting the CPG sector through its high-performance shrink sleeves. It is also known as a leading One-Stop Shrink Sleeve Packaging Solution Provider for various industries. At the event, the company was represented by its CEO, Mr. Tony Huang, who has more than 10 years of experience in the packaging industry. He talked about how the company’s shrink sleeve packaging solutions can benefit the look as well as sustainability of personal care products.

Ms. Yvonne Hsiao, International Sales Representative of Global Green Material Company, discussed how the company’s innovative materials help meet the sustainability goals of personal care companies. Her presentation focused on the development and practice of new plastic economy waste and plastic recycling engineering where she cited the application expansion of food-grade recycled materials as well as how to transform ocean waste plastics into reusable resources through recycling engineering.   

The Sales Manager of Ever Polymer Co., Ltd. (Everlon), Mr. Vincent Liao, talked about the application of thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) for the production of various products. In particular, Everlon TPEs, have been helping manufacturers achieve sustainability while ensuring that the required properties are met for the production of packaging and even medical parts. 

Ms. Zoey Zhong, the Foreign Trade Manager of Guangdong Gaojieli Technology Company, discussed the new breed of environmentally-friendly containers offered. The company which is engaged in green packaging, has a daily production capacity of up to 500,000 pieces and has established long-term relations with well-known personal care brands. As eco-packaging has a promising future, her presentation emphasized on innovations towards this area.  

The developments in sustainable packaging for personal care/cosmetics in Thailand were the key points in the presentation by Dr. Passachon Limthongchai, Executive Director – Customer Experience and People Caring at CONIMEX, a privately owned company specializing in the design and manufacturing of a wide range of plastic containers. 

The President of the Thai Cosmetic Cluster Trade Association (TCOS), Ms. Lucksupha Prabhawat, gave the closing remarks where she underlined the importance of the personal care industry in Thailand’s manufacturing sector, and how the association has been supporting the country’s cosmetics manufacturers towards global competitiveness.

Conference delegates at the Specialty Innovation Company Ltd, and OIM for a wide range of ingredients for the cosmetics and personal care sectors

Factory Visit: Specialty Innovation Company Ltd.

Rounding up the two-day conference, a visit to the Specialty Innovation Company Ltd. was scheduled in cooperation with the Thai Cosmetic Cluster Trade Association (TCOS). Specialty Innovation (SI) was established in 2012 and is a one-stop solution Original Innovation Manufacturing (OIM) for cosmeceuticals, nutraceuticals, herbaceuticals, and medical device from traceable natural sources – no potentially toxic chemicals and use of high technology in production combined with skilled and experienced team. The factory is LEED Gold certified with state-of-the-art production facility.

Assoc. Professor Dr. Panvipa Krisdaphong, head of the Specialty Innovation, welcomed the delegates and led the SI team in discussing the many interesting innovations of the company and how these have contributed to good health and wellness.