Kolmar Korea Appoints Global Experts to Speed up Its Presence in North America

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– Establishing a production-sales-R&D triad to accelerate overseas cosmetics ODM market expansion

SEOUL, South Korea–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jul. 16, 2024

Kolmar Korea (KRX: 161890) is speeding up its global expansion by appointing experts in the global cosmetics industry to its North American subsidiary. With the plan to build its second U.S. plant early next year, the company has appointed a new head for its North American operations and a Global Chief Commercial Officer (GCCO). It has also set up a strategic framework that integrates production, sales, and R&D to better penetrate the local market. This plan includes creating an R&D team for North America and appointing a new manager.

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Kolmar USA 2nd plant (Photo: Kolmar Korea)

Kolmar Korea announced that it has named President Yongchul Hur as CEO of Kolmar Laboratories and Kolmar USA, its North American subsidiaries. Philippe Warnery has been appointed as Global Chief Commercial Officer (GCCO), George Rivera as Chief Science Officer (CSO) of the North American subsidiary, and Managing Director Inki Park as head of the R&D Center for North America, responsible for bridging the Korean and North American markets.

The key part of the recent appointments is bringing in many people with vast experience in the global cosmetics market. This is expected to help the company enter the North American market successfully.

Yongchul Hur, the new CEO of Kolmar North American subsidiaries, brings a wealth of experience in the global ODM business, having overseen production of Kolmar Korea's skincare and makeup products. He has previously served as president of Kolmar Beijing and Kolmar Wuxi, driving significant growth in Kolmar's Chinese operations. Prior to his tenure at Kolmar Korea, he held prominent positions in the cosmetics manufacturing industry, including factory manager at Amore Pacific and CEO of Cosvision. President Hur intends to leverage his decades of industry experience to steer local business in North America.

Philippe Warnery, newly appointed as Global Chief Commercial Officer (GCCO), is an expert in the global cosmetics market. His prior roles include CEO of Intercos North America, an Italian cosmetics ODM, and President of the UK & Ireland Region and General Manager of the Canadian Affiliate at Estee Lauder. With 25 years of experience in the global cosmetics industry, spanning both brand companies and ODM companies, his extensive network is a key competitive advantage. Warnery aims to focus on securing significant sales from major global brands as well as indie brands and recruiting influencers that are gaining popularity worldwide.

George Rivera, appointed as Chief Science Officer (CSO) of Kolmar North American subsidiaries, is an expert with over 20 years of R&D experience at global cosmetics companies such as L'Oreal USA and Intercos. Most recently, he led process and technology innovation as president of Kolmar USA. CSO Rivera, in collaboration with Inki Park, head of the North American R&D Center, plans to concentrate on research and development tailored to the local market's needs.

Center Head Park, a research expert with 18 years of experience, is responsible for adapting core technologies developed at the Kolmar R&D Complex, the Kolmar Group's global R&D hub located in South Korea, to the local market. Utilizing data accumulated at the Complex, including color, formulation, and scent, Park's team will analyze the needs of overseas markets and focus on developing customized formulations.

Kolmar Korea intends to leverage this strategic hires to maximize the operational capacity of its North American production facilities, including the first U.S. plant and the second plant under construction. The company aims to achieve $100 million in sales in the next five years. To this end, it plans to aggressively expand its sales network not only in North America but also in Central and South America. Moreover, with the rising popularity of K-beauty in the U.S. market through global distribution channels such as Amazon, the company plans to actively promote ODM sales that emphasize market accessibility and logistics efficiency for small and medium-sized Korean indie brands seeking entry into the U.S. market.

A representative of Kolmar Korea stated, “This appointment underscores our commitment to gaining new momentum in the North American market by placing industry experts at the forefront. Kolmar Korea will focus on fostering growth through the synergistic collaboration of sales, production, and R&D and expanding its influence beyond North America to Europe.”

Understanding the importance of the North American market, Kolmar Korea has acquired Kolmar USA (formerly known as PTP) and Kolmar Canada (formerly known as CSR) in 2016 preemptively establishing a foundation for global expansion. In 2022, Kolmar Korea acquired 100% of the ‘Kolmar’ brand trademark rights, securing exclusive rights to the brand and enabling unrestricted business operations in the U.S. and global markets. The company is expanding its sales network with the recent opening of the Kolmar Innovation Center in New Jersey, USA.

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