A distributor on clear terms, with the product clearance held by a neutral party or by your own structure, not by the distributor itself.
Brazil is not for beginnersThat's why you shouldn't enter it alone
Beauty brands between Europe and Brazil: the checks before the contract, one specialist per field, one point of contact.
Exporting cosmetics to Brazil is not about finding an importer and shipping ex works
Brazil is one of the world's great beauty markets, but it is not won from the loading bay. Companies that go in with an order and a pallet often discover, too late, that they have handed over control of their own brand.
Entrust us with the whole journey: one point of contact, a specialist for every step.
The most common mistake
Ex works is the delivery term under which the seller hands over the goods at its own premises. From that point on, transport, customs, taxes and distribution are the buyer's business. It looks convenient: no risk, no complications. In Brazil, for a cosmetic product, it is often where the trouble begins.
The product cannot enter unless it has been cleared by ANVISA, the national health authority, and only an authorised Brazilian company can hold that clearance. Whoever holds the clearance holds the market. The trademark must be protected before you approach partners, not after. And with an ex works shipment, the shelf price is not yours to set.
See everything you need to plan forThe routes that actually exist
There is no single way into Brazil. Companies in this sector follow different routes:
Your own company in Brazil, importing and managing the clearance directly.
Local manufacturing under licence or through a Brazilian contract manufacturer, transferring the formula and the method instead of shipping finished goods.
Acquiring or taking a stake in a local company, as Alfaparf Milano did when it bought the Brazilian contract manufacturer Coferly.
The method enters Brazil through the factory, not through customs. The right choice depends on the product, the volumes, the channel and each company's horizon.
A task force for beauty in Brazil
Brazil Beauty Desk is a task force that studies the market and guides companies into it. It brings together independent professionals who know the Brazilian cosmetics market from the inside: regulatory affairs, intellectual property, customs, taxation, toxicology. Each covers only the field they specialise in; the coordination holds the project together.
What does a wrong decision cost?
Think about what it costs to enter Brazil on hurried, poorly informed decisions: a product held up because the clearance was not correct, a trademark registered by someone else, a distributor you can no longer separate from, a warehouse in the wrong state, a shelf price out of line with the market. Months lost, money spent twice, opportunities that do not come back.
And not every success story has been an economical one. Behind some market entries that look successful from the outside lie lost time, applications redone and costs nobody talks about.
Our work costs far less than those mistakes. We want you to enter Brazil with the right architecture from the start, so you can begin selling straight away, without the stoppages and restarts that cost time and money.
What is more, a properly structured market-entry project can be financed. Italy and other European countries offer public support schemes for internationalisation: loans on favourable terms and grants that can cover, in whole or in part, market studies, specialist advice and start-up costs abroad.
A study can be financed. A mistake, never.
Where to start
Before you ship a single bottle, it is worth knowing who will hold the product clearance, who owns the trademark, where it makes sense to enter and what the product will really cost on the shelf.