- The Beauty Cluster, with more than 200 associated companies, has held its annual meeting presenting an ambitious strategic plan for growth and expansion.
- The Cluster advocates a return to face-to-face events to reconnect the sector after the worst months of the pandemic.
- The Beauty Cluster has met the maximum objectives set for 2020: to continue its activity for members despite the pandemic and to continue to grow in members.
- Eva Lluch (Lluch Essence) replaces Álex Vallbona (Birchbox) in the presidency of the Beauty Cluster. Vallbona will occupy the vice-presidency.
Barcelona, 7 May 2021. Yesterday took place the Ordinary General Assembly of Beauty Cluster in which the members were offered a positive balance of 2020 and better expectations for 2021. The good health that the cluster enjoys is consolidated with more than 100 events between activities and projects, 40 of them in virtual environment during the confinement, and with a very remarkable call in a year of pandemic with more than 6,000 attendees in total during 2020.
The technological acceleration resulting from the pandemic has been important for the organisation, which now has 210 member companies from the world of cosmetics, perfumery and personal care, making it the leading cluster in Spain in this sector and the second most important in Europe.
Change of presidency and presentation of the annual Barometer
A change of mandate has been announced at the Assembly. Álex Vallbona, until now president, cedes his position in favour of Eva Lluch, until yesterday vice-president. In this way, the Beauty Cluster continues to fulfil its commitment to an annual change of presidency, maintaining the parity of alternation that has been customary since its foundation.
Eva Lluch is CEO of Lluch Essence and has been linked to the perfume industry all her life. Vallbona, outgoing president and now vice-president, wished “all the best” to Eva Lluch who, in turn, stated that she “feels very proud of the work that the Beauty Cluster is doing, to include the entire value chain of the sector, and that we must continue on the path of growth and influence that we are working on“.
The results of the IV Annual Barometer of the Spanish Beauty Industry were also presented to the members. The numbers are clear: more than 100 companies responded to the survey and 71% have maintained or increased their turnover in a year of pandemic. If we talk about workers, 84% of the companies have kept their staff and even made new incorporations. In fact, for 2021, 4 out of 10 companies plan to hire more staff. The numbers for new products are also exciting, as 80% of the companies have advanced that they plan to launch new products that will be focused, above all, on the segments of facial treatments, hair and body cosmetics.
Overall, the 4th Barometer shows a clear recovery of confidence despite the fact that COVID-19 continues to be a concern for many companies in the sector.
A 2020 full of successful projects
At this General Assembly, the colour green was unanimous with regard to meeting the 2020 targets:
- The Marketplace has made it possible to interconnect supply-demand and collaboration between partners.
- The Beauty Business School is the first business training entity specialising in beauty.
- Support for the internationalisation of partners.
- Creation of international events and internationalisation of the most strategic ones.
- Involve more employees of partner companies.
- Sustained growth of 10% with a 1-3 ratio between large vs. small companies.
- Tangibilise the contribution of value to the partner.
- Internationalise the cluster with the development of strategic alliances. At this point it is worth highlighting the main role as founders of the Global Cosmetic Cluster, the first international network of clusters.
Looking ahead to 2021, the Beauty Cluster intends to continue advancing and positioning itself as an influential entity in the industry and as a source of knowledge for its members. “The important thing is that we are known for what we do, not for what we say we do,” says Ivan Borrego, CEO of the Beauty Cluster. They are also looking to consolidate the digital transformation and return to face-to-face events combined with the virtual format. “The sector is asking us to return to face-to-face events to improve relations and boost the creation of innovative projects within the industry“.
Upcoming events 2021
Barcelona Olfaction Week is the Beauty Cluster’s most imminent event, which will take place from 29 May to 5 June. It will be a week of activities in a hybrid format around the world of perfume. The final climax will be the awards ceremony of the IV International Perfumery Competition – Mouillette d’Argent – in an open-air event that be held at Ca l’Antiga -Teià (Barcelona).
