Rishon, from PE, focuses on São Paulo market
Valor Econômico
After establishing in the Northeast, the Pernambuco-based Rishon is targeting the city of São Paulo to end the year with growth of 24% in income. To do so, the cosmetics manufacturer - which is already present in specialized stores and drugstores in Santos, on the coast of São Paulo - will have to face competition with the local brands Tanagra and Agimax, besides national Amend and Bioextratus. "The growth was projected in a very conservative way, taking into consideration certain markets we are opening. It is net growth, already discounted the inflation", says businesswoman Marcelle Sultanum. Last year the growth of Rishon in earnings amounted to 17%.
Specialized in products for hair treatment, the flagships of Rishon are the cauterization kits of the Tutanat line and the hair straightening kits of the Sleek line. The strategy to enter the market of São Paulo is to invest first in the specialized stores, build a solid network of representatives and then move on to the large chains of drugstores. Through its virtual store, Rishon already sells to consumers all over Brazil, and it has clients in Japan, the United States and Italy. Nearly 70% of the customers of the company on the Internet, however, are women from 17 to 35 living in the State of São Paulo, according to a survey of the company.
The average purchase ticket at the virtual store of Rishon is R$ 85 (US$ 53.13). Currently, the sales through the channel generate 10% of the earnings, but the participation should increase to 30% in five years. Today, Rishon signs 130 products, 55 of them launched last year and 28 this year. The recipe of the items is old. With strong power of recovery of damaged hair strings, ox marrow is the main raw-material used by the company. 300 kg of the material are collected every month in the slaughtering plants of Pernambuco and industrialized at Rishon.
When the entrepreneur took over the Rishon plant in 1997, the national industry of perfumery and personal hygiene still strove not to succumb in view of the competition from imported products. To survive the fixed rate of exchange, she decided to bet on niches instead of the mass market. It paid off. "While the multinationals fight for the best spots on the shelves of supermarkets, Rishon consolidates in the stores specialized in aesthetics and beauty, selling to beauty parlors and to end consumers", says the Manager.
The Brazilian Association of the Personal Hygiene, Perfumery and Cosmetics Industry (ABIHPEC) calculates a deficit of US$ 360 million in the trade balance of the sector in 2011, after a deficit of US$ 3 million in 2010. Between 2002 and 2009, the segment featured only surpluses. "For this year, we calculate investments between R$ 350 (US$ 218.75) and R$ 500 thousand (US$ 312.5 thousand) in infrastructure", said Marcelle, 33. She inherited Rishon from her father when he was 20 and was still at the administration college.