Cosmetica Laboratories wants to double its activity in three years!

Interview by Jean-Yves Bourgeois

16 March 2018

The Toronto-based Canadian firm is taking full advantage of the beauty industry’s craze for the makeup outsourcing industry in North America. Its plant boasting an area of 270,000 square foot was recently expanded (again) in November with the construction of an additional building to double the production capabilities. Significant efforts were also achieved in terms of automation of production and assembly lines but also concerning innovation, with an investment in their successful PD and R&I teams. With a strong dedication, to the design and manufacture of makeup products, the Senior Team at Cosmetica has a growth strategy prepared with a ten-year view. Overview with Kathie Elliot- Sales VP, Marketing Product Development and Kim Bigford, P&D and Marketing Manager.

Premium Beauty News - After thirty years of existence, how would you describe Cosmetica Laboratories?

Kathie Elliot - Cosmetica develops and manufactures custom cosmetic products for globally renowned beauty brands, maintaining a fine balance between art and technology.

Premium Beauty News - You are about to double your production capacity…

Kathie Elliot - That’s right! Our existing 270,000 square foot (about 25000 sqm) facility accommodates state of the art R&D and QA/QC laboratories, along with manufacturing capabilities across a wide range of makeup and skincare products. Housing all of our services under one roof allows for agility and flexible execution of complex custom development. Our new location is within walking distance from our existing plan and doubles our production space.

Premium Beauty News - Can you tell us a word about your strategies?

Kathie Elliot - Our strategies are simple. To have the best innovation, best execution and service, best speed-to-market and best people. Our focus on collaboration and organizational agility with our partner clients has ensured that we have long standing client relationships. We support each of these strategies with investments that allow our company to grow along with the increasing sophistication of our customers. At the foundation of these strategies is an undying commitment to the highest quality standards and a healthy, safe place to work.

Delivering state of the art products ranging from Prestige to Mass and everything in between, we are aligned with the goal of delivering the most outstanding products to the marketplace. Whatever the concept, whatever the vision, Cosmetica Laboratories aspires to be a partner at every step of the way from initial inspiration to innovative creation and flawless delivery.

Premium Beauty News - You are investing a lot in Research & Development?

Kim Bigford - Our PD and R&I teams offer a diverse range of development and support services: custom product formulation, regular inspiration, curated and core category presentations, packaging development/sourcing for turnkey projects, active ingredient trends/market intelligence, process engineering/piloting services (Technical Resource Group TRG), Regulatory Services, Stability/Compatibility Testing.

Our PD and R&I teams create innovative and inspirational trend presentations, showcasing fully customizable market-ready products that help to fulfill the dreams of our clients exceeding the needs of the marketplace in performance, texture and quality. The majority of our business is born from these inspirational presentations that we deliver to our clients on a regular basis.

Our R&I team is a key investment and priority for the Company. Consisting of highly educated and experienced scientists from different areas of the Cosmetic /Personal Care Industry, their unique skills and expertise allow our laboratories to create thousands of new and innovative formulations each year.

Our TRG (Technical Resource Group) supports our R&I group in developing processes from initial concept to commercialization of the final product. TRG compares all potential processes and choose the best solution to deliver a high quality product which also fits the budgetary needs of our clients. In addition, the TRG lend their expertise to acquiring the latest in equipment technology to allow for the most reliable and effective innovation in new product executions.

Premium Beauty News - And it is the same for the production?

Kim Bigford - Our state of the art manufacturing facility is enhanced by continuous investment in advanced technology, machines and processes to deliver both innovation capabilities and efficiencies. Our operation offers an array of manufacturing solutions and services to our clients, everything from batching and compounding to filling, assembly, pack-off and shipping for both custom cosmetic and OTC products.

In our clean, modern facility, which uses a USP grade water purification system, we can produce orders ranging from 5000 to millions of pieces per SKU. Order and cycle lead times can average 8 to 12 weeks, based on the availability of raw materials, components, production schedules and demand.

We offer analytical and microbial test method development, validation &/or verification; along with equipment and process qualification for major products that we develop. Product stability, component compatibility, and functionality tests are also included in our process steps. As part of our commitment to exceed our client’s expectations, we have comprehensive and integrated quality control and quality assurance systems. Our commitment is to create outstanding product with attention to every detail and specification from beginning to end.

Our Innovation section on our website is accessible by client login only!

Premium Beauty News - Your field of operations is mostly in North America. When will you make forays in other theatres of operation?

Kathie Elliot - It is true that our commercial activity is mainly centered on the north-American continent where we are based. But our customers are global AND in Europe too.