'Japanese-Origin Playground' Leading the Localization of Cosmetic Ingredients: Kolmar Korea

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Korean Kolmar, a cosmetics original design manufacturing (ODM) company with a 30-year history, is making a comeback through 'domestic production of raw materials.' By securing independent manufacturing technology for cosmetic raw materials that once relied 100% on Japanese imports, it is laying the foundation for the revival of the stagnant K-Beauty industry. Over the past six years, during which domestic production projects for foreign raw materials from not only Japan but also Germany have been carried out, the economic effect has reached 92 billion KRW.

On the 26th, Korean Kolmar recently completed the application process for a national project announcement aimed at domestic production of phytosterol-based moisturizers, a cosmetic raw material. Phytosterol, used in almost all basic cosmetics manufacturing, has so far mostly depended on imports from Japan. Due to the high quality and technological barriers of Japanese raw materials, no domestic company had succeeded in domestic production.

A representative raw material that Korean Kolmar successfully domesticated is an amino acid-derived surfactant. Amino acid surfactants used in foam cleansers were among the raw materials that once had a 100% dependence on Japanese imports. The amino acid surfactant, which had been entirely imported from Japan and only enriched Japanese companies, was domestically produced for the first time last year by Korean Kolmar among domestic companies. This achievement came after five years of development in partnership with a domestic surfactant specialist manufacturer.

Domestic production of plant-based raw materials, almost monopolized by Japan, is also approaching. Korean Kolmar has been dedicated to developing Japanese plant-based surfactants for over three years and is expected to complete development within this year. Currently, it is being applied to some products and undergoing stability tests. Along with surfactants, Japanese spherical powders used in titanium dioxide, powder pacts, and shadows?raw materials with high Japanese dependence?have also been domestically produced and utilized in cosmetics manufacturing.

The reason Korean Kolmar ventured into domestic production of raw materials stems from experiencing the arbitrary practices of Japanese companies. In the early 2010s, when K-Beauty was booming, requests to Japanese raw material companies to increase supply to meet the surging export volume were often rejected without special reasons or met with unreasonable price hikes.

They abused their monopolistic market position and oversized influence by unilaterally cutting off supply and other arbitrary actions. Last year, a Chinese cosmetics company swept up Japanese raw materials, causing an emergency in the domestic cosmetics industry. An industry insider said, "Since the Fukushima nuclear disaster, concerns about radioactive contamination of Japanese raw materials have increased, and with Japan's import restrictions last year changing consumer perceptions, the necessity for domestic production of raw materials has become even stronger."

Efforts to domestically produce raw materials from Singapore, the United States, and Europe, besides Japan, are also ongoing. American synthetic phospholipid raw materials used in eye creams and German fermentation raw materials have been domestically produced, and Singaporean natural pigments were domesticated within about a year using proprietary agricultural extraction technology. The domestication of fermentation raw materials, mainly imported from Germany and other European countries, has dramatically lowered product prices from around 240,000 KRW to 90,000 KRW, resulting in an annual cost reduction effect of 5.4 billion KRW.

Since venturing into overseas raw material technology domestication in 2014, Korean Kolmar has invested about 500 personnel over six years up to this year and successfully domesticated a total of 18 cases. Over six years, domestic production of Japanese raw materials has saved 17 billion KRW, and globally, including cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, cost savings have reached 92 billion KRW. By securing independent manufacturing technology for raw materials directly linked to cosmetic efficacy, it is also evaluated that the foundation for enhancing K-Beauty competitiveness has been established. A Korean Kolmar official said, "Korean Kolmar's efforts in domestication will reduce dependence on Japan and serve as an opportunity to narrow the technological gap of 7 to 8 years."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.