Korean beauty corporations that grew in the global market by leading with basic skincare are now eyeing perfume as a new growth engine and expanding related businesses. Demand at home and abroad is rising quickly, and scent can be extended into hand cream, body, hair, and space products, boosting business potential. Leveraging existing overseas consumers and distribution networks to cut market entry expense and more easily build a premium image is also cited as an advantage.
On the 30th, the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system showed that d'Alba Global(483650) plans to invest 9.6 billion won on the 31st in Kuokaskin, which operates the premium perfume brand "kuoka." It will acquire 3,547,176 redeemable convertible preferred shares (RCPS) in cash to secure 33.61% equity.
Kuoka is a perfume and body care brand founded in 2019, known for compositions inspired by fine dining and ingredients. It has entered premium select shops in Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and is set to launch at Luckyscent, a North American niche fragrance distributor. Sales rose 6.5 times in two years, from 1 billion won in 2023 to 6.5 billion won last year, and the company is targeting more than 10 billion won this year.
d'Alba Global also secured a call option to buy remaining equity held by existing shareholders and founders three years after the RCPS issue date. The move is seen as a strategy to quickly enter the perfume market and secure a new growth pillar by leveraging its overseas distribution and marketing capabilities.
Moves by Korean beauty corporations targeting the perfume market have accelerated recently. APR(278470) over about a year since last year reorganized the perfume and lifestyle brand "FORMENT." In May, it strengthened marketing by selecting actor Park Ji-hoon, who became known to the public through the film "The King's Warden," as the brand model.
Cases of extending popular hair care scents into perfumes are also increasing. The Skin Factory, which runs the brand "KUNDAL," launched solid perfumes late last year and expanded sales channels to in-flight duty-free shops of low-cost carriers such as Jin Air and Eastar Jet Co. The hair care brand "UNOVE" also launched a perfume lineup last year and is exporting to Japan and China.
Korean corporations are focusing on perfume because demand at home and abroad is rising quickly. Market research firm H&I Global Research estimated that Korea's perfume market grew more than 5% annually over the past three to four years to reach 747.5 billion won last year. It projected the market would expand to 1.3771 trillion won by 2035.
Exports are also climbing steeply. According to the Korea International Trade Association, Korea's perfume exports rose from $11,096,000 (about 16 billion won) in 2021 to $56,825,000 (about 82 billion won) last year, increasing about fivefold in four years. Analysts say interest in K-beauty, formed around skincare and color cosmetics, is spreading into adjacent areas such as perfume and hair and body products.
Among Korean specialist brands that have made scent a core business, some are already posting annual sales in the tens of billions of won. Tamburins, developed by IICOMBINED, operator of Gentle Monster, recorded sales of 152.5 billion won last year. Tamburins operates 19 stores in Korea and 13 overseas in Japan, China, and Thailand, and is pushing into the United States and Europe.
Nonfiction, which sells hand cream, hand wash, and perfume, recorded sales of 53.5 billion won last year, while Granhand, known for multiperfume and diffusers, posted 31.5 billion won, up 11.7% and 15%, respectively, from a year earlier. A strategy centered on perfume and expanded into hand, body, and home fragrance lines translated into topline growth.
Overseas retailers are also eyeing perfume as the next growth area for K-beauty. The U.K. drugstore brand Boots, in a beauty trend report released early this year, said, "Last year at Boots in the U.K., one K-beauty product sold every 11 seconds, showing steep growth," adding, "This year, K-beauty will expand into new areas such as perfume and hair care."
A cosmetics industry official said, "Perfume allows a single popular scent to be extended into hand cream and body, hair, and space products, offering broad product scalability, and using existing overseas distribution networks can also reduce market entry expense," adding, "It also helps build a premium brand image."