Kolmar Korea R&D Complex in Seoul / Courtesy of Kolmar Korea

Kolmar Korea's research and development (R&D) capabilities are gaining market attention due to the global popularity of Korean beauty and cosmetic products, as evidenced by the company's role as a contract manufacturer for many indie brands that are now leading beauty industry trends.

According to the U.S. International Trade Commission's DataWeb, Korean products accounted for 22 percent of the U.S. import cosmetics market as of September, surpassing France at 16.7 percent and Canada at 13.3 percent to take the top spot. This achievement came just two years after Korean products ranked third in 2022.

Notably, it was independent brands operated by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) driving the quick ascent, rather than large companies.

According to Korea's Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the country's cosmetics exports stood at $7.4 billion from January to September this year, and SMEs represented 68 percent, or $5.02 billion of the total, meaning that nearly seven out of 10 exported Korean beauty products were from SMEs.

Cosmetics industry insiders said original development manufacturers (ODMs) such as Kolmar Korea played important roles in the success of independent brands, drawing comparisons to TSMC, the world's largest semiconductor contract manufacturer.

Kolmar Korea was established in 1990 as a company focusing on contract manufacturing or developing cosmetics products. The company has never offered its own brands, as part of its philosophy of “not competing with its clients.”

With the growth of Korean cosmetic brands, Kolmar Korea's profitability is also improving. The company posted a revenue of 626.5 billion won ($448.24 million) for the third quarter of this year, up 21.33 percent year-on-year, while its operating profit jumped 75.74 percent to 54.5 billion won during the same period.

The company's client base is also expanding in tandem with the market growth. The number of its clients, which reached 2,509 in 2022 and 3,147 in 2023, is projected to grow to 3,776 by the end of this year. Kolmar Korea's clients include Beauty of Joseon and SKIN1004, which are popular on Amazon and other cosmetics platforms.

Kolmar Korea said it is improving its competitiveness with aggressive investments in R&D, which accounts for 5 to 7 percent of its yearly sales. More than 30 percent of the company's total employees are researchers.

Building on Korean beauty brands' popularity, Kolmar Korea is also strengthening support for SMEs. In June, the company and Amazon jointly held the Amazon K-Beauty Conference in Seoul, unveiling plans to support the global expansion of independent beauty brands.

“Kolmar Korea has built distinguished competitiveness through big data and R&D capabilities with more than 3,000 clients over the past 34 years,” an official at the company said.

“Moving forward, we will continue to elevate the global status of K-beauty and create sustainable success models by fostering mutual growth with independent brands.”