b-ex Leads in Clean Beauty, Focusing on Sustainable, Eco-Friendly Hair Care

The trend toward clean beauty is becoming increasingly mainstream. But it’s not just a trend; as consumers become more mindful of the ingredients and chemicals in their products, this is an area that will grow in the future. It’s also quite crucial to your products. Your Pure Natural line is just one example of this. What sort of steps do you take in your product development to avoid the use of harmful chemicals?

Let’s start with our history. This year marks 49 years since our establishment, and since that time, our company has had a policy of introducing and promoting healthy and beautiful hair, so you can imagine how much we emphasize the importance of ingredients that are put into our hair products. In fact, the importance of ingredients is part of the whole philosophy of our company. The company was established by my father, and back in those days, the idea was to protect the hands of hairstylists from damage caused by perm solutions. That philosophy has been the core foundation since our company’s establishment and we still try to emphasize that philosophy.

Recent trends in sustainable development goals (SDGs) and sustainability have guided our company through the whole lineup of our products. In 2021, we entered a capital and business alliance with O’right, which is a carbon-neutral green cosmetic manufacturing company in Taiwan, to sell and develop sustainable products in Japan. Together, we will promote clean beauty and decrease the burden on the environment.

One of the key parts of your business is your relationship with different salons. How do you effectively incorporate the feedback you receive from salon professionals and customers and use that to develop your products?

We involve influential top salons from the early stages of development and consider everything together. Talking about hair color, for example, we hold a number of sessions with those institutions to talk and collect feedback and information firsthand from these individuals. Based on those sessions, we come back to the office and try to come up with solutions.

We talked about the focus on sustainability and ethical sourcing of ingredients. That is something that is becoming increasingly important, and it’s also pushing a lot of manufacturers to think about their impact on the environment. You were the first Japanese company to address the World Biodiversity Summit last year. Your address really focused on—as you mentioned already—the reduction of water and solvents, and also packaging, and you set a goal to serve as an example, not only for the beauty industry but also for Japan as a whole, for broader societal changes. Could you tell us what sort of initiatives are you putting in place to overcome these environmental challenges and try to achieve the sustainability goals?

Unfortunately, hair salons in Japan, by their essence, are not particularly interested in sustainability. They are not an eco-friendly business, so it’s very important for us to educate these salons and make them understand what sustainability is. Even something like the usage of an outrageous amount of water in hair salons is considered, so the companies that are doing this are not really eco-friendly. Our role is to be active in that education to show them how things can be done in an eco-friendly way, and that was part of my participation in the World Biodiversity Summit in New York last year.

You mentioned next year is your company’s 50th anniversary. During these 50 years, you have developed many types of products. Considering this is a very competitive market, both domestically and overseas, what do you believe are the main strengths of your company, and what sets you and your products apart from your competitors?

We are quite proud to say that we have really good connections and partnerships with professional salons, and these partnerships, together with our R&D capabilities, help us develop customized solutions for our customers here in the domestic market. Our marketing and branding capabilities are also strong. For example, our Loretta brand has a very cute and appealing package design. I would say these are the strengths of our company relative to our competitors.

Japanese beauty brands face a lot of stiff competition from Korean beauty brands and large Western brands as well. However, a lot of the active ingredients are produced here in Japan, and this is something that’s not very well-known outside of Japan. Another interesting trend is that more and more people are turning to the Japanese idea of “less is more.” What do you think are the advantages of J-Beauty brands, and what are their advantages over their regional competitors?

Japanese customers push brands. It doesn’t have to be cosmetics, but any company that excels in their products and produces the best features and service. Attention to detail and commitment to quality is something that defines the Japanese market and commands the attention of Japanese customers, so we prioritize this kind of high quality and level of satisfaction. When I see Japanese products abroad, I find that the high quality of products produced by Japanese companies is appreciated every time.

You’ve mentioned that one of your key strengths is your relationship with salons. This strength would appear to be under threat, with Japan facing shrinking demographics which the population is expected to reduce to below 100 million people by 2050. What strategy are you using to overcome this challenge, and how are you preparing to mitigate the impact of the shrinking population? Are you looking to expand your business overseas, and if so, what are you doing to do so?

Yes, one part of the solution can be expansion to overseas markets. Obviously, the declining population in Japan is not a good thing for any local companies, so inevitably some will need to go to countries that have a growing population, such as India or Southeast Asia. We released Loretta in 2009, and it was aimed at the younger generation in their twenties, but now fifteen years have passed, and some of those younger people who grew attached to our product back in 2009 are over 40 years old, so we will also develop products for the mature generation. That customer demographic shift, along with taking the product to overseas markets with growing populations, is the way to go.

You mentioned the importance of partnerships. Of course, local distributors can help drive new developments and sales while opening new markets. Are you looking for new partners or distributors?

We have already expanded to South Korea, Thailand, Singapore,  Hong Kong. That has been done through the help of distributors that are introducing our products into local markets. Ideally, in the next stage, we would stabilize our business in these regions and launch our own company in these or new markets.

Have you identified any specific markets?

We are in the process of opening an entity in China to expand our business. It is a country that may have some political risks, but its immense population makes it attractive. And after China, India is next on our list.

You spoke about launching Loretta in 2009, and you launched your b bleach product in 2021. Are there any new products currently under development that will be launched soon?

Our Kiratera brand, launched in June, is a collection of different colors. We developed this product for the younger generation with highly concentrated and fresh colors. The aim is first to get attention from the domestic market and then potentially take it overseas, especially to Thailand and Hong Kong. We live in a world where everybody uses Instagram or social media and we are seeing a lot of traction with that, and users are carefully watching the brands coming from Japan.

Your company not only develops products for salons, but you also have entered consumer products. One of your flagship product lines is Pure Natural, which is a hypoallergenic, additive-free hair care product that contains natural aromas and plant ingredients. Could you please elaborate more about the unique features of the Pure Natural?

Pure Natural is the brand that we developed specifically for direct consumer use, to diversify from our core salon product business, and we made with care to lather richly and leave the hair moisturized and refreshed without making it squeaky. Currently sold out but next year we will rebrand Pure Natural and we will improve the website and marketing efforts. We also have a consumer product brand called Honeyce.

Let’s imagine that we will come back five years from now to interview you again for your 55th anniversary. What are the goals that you would like to achieve by then?

O’right is a company that we have invested in, and it focuses on clean beauty while b-ex is focused on leading hair care salons, so we would like to create a good bond between these two companies to capture a better, wider audience and become number one in the market. We believe we can make it with our affiliate companies and perhaps also with some M&A activity.

For more information, visit: https://www.b-ex.inc/en/