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If Italy is “the Great Beauty”, then Lombardy is the place where you find the maximum density of cosmetic businesses: Cosmetica Italia, the organization representing the Italian cosmetic industry system, declares that 51% of the national cosmetic businesses are concentrated in Lombardy, described as the heart of the Italian cosmetic system.
In Lombardy the production chain is complete and well represented, from raw materials to distribution, from bulk/product to filling process, from assembling to automated machines building, from primary to secondary packaging, from decorations to labels. It includes formulators, packaging manufacturers and designers, suppliers of cosmetic ingredients (85% of Italian suppliers of raw materials in based in Lombardy), machines for production, consultant, R&D experts, OEM/ODM manufacturers. This ecosystem, (where 18,000 people are employed in Lombardy out of 35,000 in Italy), is mainly populated by small business and family business, developing strong cooperation and integration, implementing sinergies aimed to innovation.
Foreign investments were already attracted in the sector, mainly addressed to contract manufacturers, where one of the leaders in OEM and bespoke makeup (Intercos) is participated by a fund based in US. Famous French brands (Chanel and Lancôme, just to name a couple) use to have their makeup lines developed and manufactured in Italy (find more information in this post).
In the last three years export has been the driver for the development of the Italian cosmetic industry, reaching the value of 9,000 Million in 2015, of which 3,000 are generated in Lombardy, growing 9% in 2015, opening to Asia but still increasing in UK, US, Germany and France.
The highest density of players and the presence of the entire supply chain is not the only reason to define Lombardy as the focus of cosmetics in Italy. In this area actually you can find not only the combination between brands and contract manufacturers, but also the excellence for skin care and makeup.
The future of cosmetics is more and more linked to technology, the integration with wearables device and the introduction of new proceeding and the use of 3D printers in makeup.
Lombardy is ready to become more global and attractive for foreign investments, offering not only companies or shares of them for acquisitions but a unique business environment for one of the industries of the future.