The pillars of P&G’s skincare business are Olay, SK-II and First Aid Beauty. But the multinational is seeking to attract younger consumers through responsible and clean beauty brands.
Founded six years ago by repeat entrepreneur, David Chung, who also springboarded high-end skincare brand 3Lab, Englewood Lab and the iLabs R&D manufacturing company, Farmacy Beauty styles itself as “farm-to-face skincare”. Sephora originally approached Chung and asked him to create a natural and clean beauty brand. The company’s best-selling lineup, including Green Clean Cleansing Balm, Honeymoon Glow Serum and Filling Good Hyaluronic Acid Serum, is still sold in the speciality beauty chain in the US and Australia and also through its own DTC website.
Farmacy Beauty posted revenues of US$80 million last year. This is the second major deal in three years for Chung. In 2018, he sold a majority stake in Englewood Lab to Cosmecca Korea for US$57 million.
P&G has been eyeing Farmacy Beauty for some time, adds Markus Strobel, President, Skin and Personal Care for P&G Beauty. “It’s an attractive brand with an amazing potential and an unusual positioning – deeply rooted in science combined with natural farm-to-face ingredient-sourcing. It’s a great complement to our current portfolio of brands and a demonstration of our commitment to provide responsible skincare solutions that are scientifically proven to be efficacious.”
Chung will stay on in advisory capacity to the brand for a year, but P&G will allow Farmacy Beauty to chart its own course. A hands-off strategy it followed with First Aid Beauty, which has doubled its sales since the multinational acquired the brand three years ago.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed but international expansion is on the front burner. For the most recent quarter ended September 30, P&G’s beauty sales surpassed US$4 billion. The company launched its Responsible Beauty platform last year and Farmacy Beauty will be key to its sustainability commitment going forward.